Ohio State has put voluntary workouts on hold due to positive COVID-19 tests.
Voluntary workouts for the football, men's and women's basketball, field hockey, men's and women's soccer and women's volleyball have been shut down indefinitely, according to a statement released by the university on Wednesday.
Ohio State has not released the number of athletes who tested positive for COVID-19, choosing not to share that information publicly “as it could lead to the identification of specific individuals and compromise their medical privacy.”
Per Ohio State's statement on Wednesday, any athlete who tests positive for COVID-19 “will self-isolate for at least 14 days and receive daily check-ups from the Department of Athletics medical staff. Student-athletes living alone will isolate in their residence. If they have roommates, they will self-isolate in a designated room on campus.”
“The health and safety of our student-athletes is always our top priority,” Ohio State's statement concludes.
Ohio State football players have been back on campus and participating in voluntary workouts for the past month after returning to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on June 8. Before that, the Buckeyes had been away from campus for three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Per guidelines approved by the NCAA's Division I Council last month, college football teams who are scheduled to begin their seasons on Sept. 5 – which Ohio State is against Bowling Green – are permitted to begin required workouts on Monday. Now, though, it appears that step will be delayed at Ohio State.
Ohio State has not provided a timetable for on-campus workouts to resume, but Bucknuts' Dave Biddle, who was first to report that voluntary workouts were being suspended, wrote that workouts will be on hold for at least one week, through July 15.
As of now, Ohio State has not announced changes to its schedules for football and other fall sports. Earlier on Wednesday, however, the Ivy League became the first Division I conference to announce that it will not play sports this fall.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said in May that he had hoped there would be clarity on the upcoming season by early July. That said, several other top decision-makers in college sports have indicated that decisions on the upcoming college football season might not come until late July or early August.
