Univ. of Houston Suspends Workouts Following 6 Positive COVID-19 Tests

Just 11 days after the University of Houston resumed voluntary workouts for student-athletes, the Cougars have suspended those activities as six student-athletes from various sports have tested positive for COVID-19.

The announcement, according to a report from ESPN, came on June 12 as the UH athletic department said the decision to suspend activities again came “out of an abundance of caution.” The school went on to add that the six student-athletes have been placed in isolation while contact tracing procedures have already begun.

According to a report from the Houston Chronicle, UH did not test all of its student-athletes upon their return to campus, rather only those who showed symptoms of having COVID-19. In that Chronicle report, any student-athlete that showed a temperature above 100.2 degrees — the current benchmark given by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — was placed in quarantine and evaluated by team doctors until test results were returned.

The rise in cases isn’t restricted to those on campus, however. There has been a recent surge of positive tests in the Houston area, and Harris County, where UH is located, is currently at a “code orange” of a new colored-coded “COVID-19 public health threat level system”, which categorizes the county at a “significant threat.”

The Cougars became the first program to suspend activities after bringing back student-athletes to campus.

  » RELATED: Texas A&M, Texas Tech Planning for Fall Sports Season

“As was contemplated prior to the return of student-athletes on June 1, UH Athletics is adapting its protocols to include repetitive COVID-19 testing as a component of any resumption of workouts on campus,” a statement released by the university’s athletic department said. “During this pause in voluntary workouts, UH Athletics will continue its stringent cleaning and sanitization protocols in all facilities. UH Athletics will continue to partner with university officials, UH team physicians and local health professionals to determine best practices as it considers a return to workouts.”

To read the full story from ESPN on the University of Houston shutting down athletic activities, click here. And to read the Houston Chronicle’s report on the same story, click here.