Michigan's state health department has shut down all athletic activity at the University of Michigan for 14 days after athletes tested positive for the new strain of COVID-19.
University of Michigan Athletics Enters Department-Wide Activity Pause https://t.co/Uw9GXBPoG1
— Michigan Athletics (@UMichAthletics) January 24, 2021
Michigan athletes, coaches and team staff for all sports have been instructed to quarantine “until further notice and up to 14 days (Feb. 7).”
“Canceling competitions is never something we want to do, but with so many unknowns about this variant of COVID-19, we must do everything we can to minimize the spread among student-athletes, coaches, staff, and to the student-athletes at other schools,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement.
The new B.1.1.7 variant of the virus, which reportedly originated in the United Kingdom, is believed to be “approximately 50 percent more transmissible” than the original strain that has infected millions both nationally and worldwide.
This shutdown impacts all Michigan athletics, which brings a sudden halt to the impressive run of the seventh-ranked men's basketball team.
Juwan Howard's Wolverines were scheduled to play a makeup game with Penn State this Wednesday, followed by matchups against Indiana, Northwestern and Michigan. All four games are now officially postponed, and it's unclear when or how those contests will be rescheduled.
If the 14-day lockdown prevents further spread, Michigan's men's basketball team would presumably return to action against Illinois at home on Feb. 11. Both the men's and women's basketball teams are scheduled to face Ohio State on Feb. 21.
