Washington Athletics reports uptick in positive COVID-19 cases after pausing baseball program’s offseason workouts

SEATTLE – The University of Washington athletics department reported 13 active positive cases of COVID-19 within its department in a release on Wednesday night, four more than a week prior.

The athletes who tested positive “are going through our COVID-19 care and quarantine protocols,” the release states.

According to a source, that uptick is not directly connected to the Husky football program – which hopes to host its revised season opener against Oregon State at 8 p.m. Saturday. UW’s game last weekend was canceled after a Cal player tested positive for COVID-19 and the accompanying contact tracing eliminated an entire position group, making it impossible to play.

The Pac-12 football game between Utah and Arizona was also canceled last week after Utah could not reach minimum scholarship limits due to positive COVID-19 cases and contract tracing.

Four SEC football games have been postponed this weekend as well.

UW declined to disclose which specific programs the active COVID-19 cases are connected to. But on Nov. 4, UW’s baseball program paused its offseason workouts “after discovering positive COVID-19 cases and using contact tracing within the program while following its rigorous testing protocols,” according to a release. It was the first UW athletics program to be forced to pause training due to positive COVID-19 cases since athletes began returning to campus on June 15.

Since June 15, the university has administered 4,478 PCR tests – with 48 total positive cases.