USC football, men’s water polo workouts remain on pause until at least after Labor Day

Workouts for football and men’s water polo will remain on pause at USC until at least after Labor Day weekend after one additional Trojans athlete tested positive for COVID-19 in the university’s latest round of testing.

A sudden rise in cases off campus prompted the initial shutdown last Wednesday, as eight USC athletes in football and water polo tested positive, forcing both sports to shut down until at least Monday.

With that delay still in effect, USC said that it will now test athletes in all sports twice weekly.

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The decision to double its testing comes on the heels of a growing outbreak within the campus population. At least 147 USC students had tested positive for the novel coronavirus last week, according to Dr. Sarah Van Orman, chief health officer for USC Student Health. Only three of those cases came from students living in on-campus housing.

USC is two weeks into a semester that has been taught entirely online.

As of last Friday, USC had administered 1,127 tests to athletes since mid-June. Among them, 16 had been positive.