Michigan athletics reports six positive results in latest round of 435 virus tests

Michigan athletics, which has members and staffs of 19 teams on campus, has to date had 34 positive results among the 1,168 COVID-19 tests administered to student-athletes.

Of the 272 tests of staffers, there has been one positive. In total, of 1,440 tests, 35 have returned positive.

There were 435 tests administered to student-athletes and coaches between Aug. 1 and Friday with six positive results.

Michigan does not publicly share the breakdown the tests by sport. Four sports had to be paused because of positive tests, including ice hockey, but those teams will resume workouts by the end of the weekend.

Jim Harbaugh, whose football team opened preseason camp Friday, told Jon Jansen in an “In the Trenches” podcast that posted Friday that the team had no recent positive results.

“We also had really good news with all of our tests (Wednesday) came back negative,” Harbaugh said. “Well over 100 players tested and every single one of those tests came back negative.” 

Harbaugh said the team has had positive results but the players, coaches and staff have been vigilant and stressing the importance of masks and social distancing.

More: Michigan has coaching succession plan if Jim Harbaugh gets sidelined with virus

“The biggest defenses you have are social distancing and wearing the mask and many other things, keeping a clean environment, really trying to create a bubble, the best bubble that we can,” Harbaugh said on the podcast. “Not talking about the NBA bubble, but our bubble here on campus and within Schembechler Hall.

“Our staff, our university, our doctors have done an incredible job with the protocols put in, and we live them continuously and reinforce those, and our players have really grown with those protocols and with that advice. They just keep getting better and better. That’s what we’ve been doing daily, weekly, continuously, day after day.”