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South Florida game vs. Florida Atlantic postponed after Notre Dame COVID-19 outbreak

South Florida won’t play its upcoming game against Florida Atlantic after playing Notre Dame on Saturday.

Notre Dame postponed its upcoming game against Wake Forest on Tuesday after a COVID-19 outbreak among the team. The school said that seven players had tested positive for coronavirus and had suspended its football activities. That put the game against the Demon Deacons in peril.

With health officials believing that Notre Dame players could have been contagious during the Fighting Irish’s game against South Florida, the Bulls paused football activities Wednesday morning to make sure that none of their players contracted COVID-19.

“After learning of an outbreak of positive tests results for the novel coronavirus at our previous opponent and a subsequent review of the video from last Saturday’s game for the purpose of contact tracing, USF football is pausing all on-field activities pending the results from our second scheduled weekly team testing conducted Wednesday morning,” the school said in a statement.

“Our team was testing twice last Friday in accordance with AAC and ACC protocols prior to Saturday’s game at Notre Dame and was tested again on Monday with each test producing all negative results for the virus. However, out of an abundance of caution and with a focus on the health and safety of our student-athletes and staff, we feel it is prudent to pause on-field activity until we have the results of further testing.”

Later Wednesday, the school postponed its game on the road against Florida Atlantic that was scheduled for the coming Saturday. USF athletic director Michael Kelly alluded to the Notre Dame game in his statement regarding the postponement.

“Given the outbreak among team members of our most recent opponent and subsequent contact tracing within our team, postponement of this Saturday’s game at FAU is the right thing to do,” Kelly said.

His full statement is below.

10 Notre Dame players missed Saturday’s game

Ten Notre Dame players were absent for the team’s win over USF because of the coronavirus. Four had tested positive while six others were in quarantine. All of the players available for the game had tested negative on Friday.

St. Joseph County Health Department Dr. Mark Fox said Tuesday afternoon that since the players who had tested positive for coronavirus on Monday were negative on Friday that it was possible they were contagious while on the field over the weekend.

From WSBT:

Dr. Fox says all seven players who tested positive Monday, tested negative this past Friday. He says it's unlikely they were exposed on Saturday or Sunday because their viral load wouldn't be high enough to register. Therefore, all the players likely had the virus during the game against the University of South Florida.

"There hasn't been good data to suggest transmission from in-game activities,” he said. “It sure is theoretically possible."

GREENVILLE, NC - OCTOBER 26: South Florida Bulls helmet sits on the sidelines during a game between the USF Bulls and the East Carolina Pirates at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, NC on October 26, 2019. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
South Florida lost to Notre Dame on Saturday. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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