At least six cases of COVID-19 on Cabrini campus are linked to one varsity sports team, COVID Task Force chair Dr. Stephen Rupprecht confirmed in an email sent to the campus community on Tuesday. An additional positive case was reported to the COVID Case Tracker on the university’s website Thursday morning. It is not clear if that seventh case is connected to the team as well.
Loquitur previously reported that members of the men’s lacrosse team were asked to self-quarantine for 48 hours when it was suspected that someone on the team may have contracted the coronavirus. The positive cases have now all been isolated, Rupprecht said, and other team members were given further instruction on how to prevent another spread of COVID-19.
“The entire team is being addressed with extra mitigation strategies to help reduce potential spread, and everyone involved remains understanding and cooperative,” Rupprecht said.
Athletic director Brad Koch said that the team has been participating in “captain’s workouts and general conditioning” at the school’s facilities.
Other teams that have started their non-traditional fall seasons will continue as planned, even after the spread of the virus within one team.
“… [W]e are proceeding with workouts/practices of other programs following established department and NCAA guidelines,” Koch said via email.
Koch deferred to “University metrics” when asked what it would take for team activities to be considered unsafe. Rupprecht’s announcement from Tuesday said that a shift to something like remote learning “is still distant” based on the number of cases.
At this time, it appears that team activities will continue taking place with hopes of avoiding another spread of infection.
“We are doing everything we can and following all guidelines and protocols in order to provide an environment that is as safe as possible to carry on with Athletics-related activity,” Koch said.
