Michigan Athletics paused: athletes, coaches, and team staff called for quarantine

ANN TREE, me. – All University of Michigan sports programs will be paused for 14 days starting Sunday, a school official confirmed Saturday night.

Read: The new COVID strain causes a two-week hiatus from Michigan Athletics activities

The decision was made by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. All sports activities in all sports (including games, team and individual training sessions) have been discontinued until further notice, up to 14 days.

Team members – student athletes, coaches, and team staff are asked to isolate or quarantine immediately until further notice.

MU is currently connected to five of the six confirmed cases of the new coronavirus variant B.1.1.7. School officials said some of the positive tests correspond to people involved in the Atlético department.

The school said all five individuals are isolated and asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms.

“Canceling competitions is never something we want to do, but with so many unknowns about this variant of COVID-19, we must do everything possible to minimize the spread among student-athletes, coaches, staff and student-athletes of other schools, ”said Warde Manuel, Donald R. Shepherd’s athletics director.

The school works closely with the Washtenaw County Department of Health and the MDHHS on additional mitigation strategies to address variant COVID-19 B.1.1.7 in the university community. The university will carefully study additional mitigation measures.

There are many unknowns that continue to be investigated by local and state UM public health officials.

It has not been determined how the break may affect games scheduled beyond Feb. 7.

As of January 23, 2021, Washtenaw County has 14,573 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

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