ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Officials at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg have confirmed 21 new cases of COVID-19 as of Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. All of the cases are student athletes.
The report comes one week after a member of the Athletics Department tested positive for COVID-19 and officials suspended organized practices and placed student athletes under quarantine.
SC State President James E Clark said the school has been working with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to perform rapid COVID-19 testing of students. "As a result of this rigorous testing protocol, we have been able to quickly identify positive cases, conduct important contact tracing and quickly act to mitigate any further transmission among our student-athletes. Subsequently, we partnered with SC DHEC to perform a second round of tests of the remaining students, which have all come back negative," he said.
The students who have tested positive have been quarantined in an on-campus residence hall designated for positive cases. Officials say that although none of the students are exhibiting symptoms of the virus, they are being monitored by the university's medical staff and will remain isolated and continue their classes remotely.
Other student athletes who have not tested positive will also remain in quarantine and routinely tested and continue classes remotely.
According to university officials, on September 17, approximately 200 students were allowed to return to campus to resume face-to-face instruction and participate in remote classes. About 175 of those were student-athletes who also returned to take part in strength and conditioning workouts and practices in preparation for winter sports competitions.
University officials are using what they have learned from these newly identified cases to further enhance protocols as they finalize plans to welcome more students back to campus for the start of the spring semester, which begins January 4, 2021.