CHARLOTTE, N.C. — COVID-19 hasn’t been friendly to the UNC Charlotte 49ers this year. The school’s athletic department announced Friday that their Saturday game will be postponed after a coronavirus cluster was reported involving the team.
According to university officials, there is a cluster of seven cases of COVID-19 involving student-athletes and staff with the football team. The positive cases were discovered through self-reporting of symptoms by individuals in the Niner Health Check and regular testing required by Conference USA.
The individuals are in isolation with proper medical care, and the University’s contact tracing team is currently notifying any affected members of the UNC Charlotte community to begin quarantine.
In accordance with safety guidelines, the game scheduled for Nov. 7, at Middle Tennessee State University has been postponed. This is the fourth game for the 49ers to be cancelled or postponed this football season.
Athletics will continue to test all student-athletes and staff, following established University, conference and NCAA safety protocols, officials say.
A “cluster” is defined by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services as a minimum of five cases with illness onsets or initial positive results within a 14-day period and a plausible epidemiologic linkage between cases (present in the same setting during the same time period — ex: same shift, same classroom, same physical work area); that is consistent in likely timing of exposure; and has no other more likely source of exposure for identified cases (ex: household or close contact to a confirmed case in another setting).
