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Michigan athletics put on 14-day pause due to COVID-19 variant

By Scott Rogust

Only family and friends, besides media, were allowed to attend the Michigan Wolverines football game against rival Michigan State Spartans in Ann Arbor, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020.Michigan Stadium entrance, M Go Blue logo, Go Blue, Block M logo
Only family and friends, besides media, were allowed to attend the Michigan Wolverines football game against rival Michigan State Spartans in Ann Arbor, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020.Michigan Stadium entrance, M Go Blue logo, Go Blue, Block M logo /
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The Michigan athletics department will be on two-week pause due to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

On Saturday, the University of Michigan announced that all athletics will be placed on a 14-day pause starting Sunday, Jan. 24, after several student athletes tested positive for the COVID-19 B.1.1.7 variant. The decision to shut down all team and individual sports came from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The news was first reported by Ethan Sears of the Michigan Daily.

“Canceling competitions is never something we want to do, but with so many unknowns about this variant of COVID-19, we must do everything we can to minimize the spread among student-athletes, coaches, staff, and to the student-athletes at other schools,” athletic director Warde Manuel said in the university’s official statement.

The B.1.1.7 variant is more transmissible than normal COVID-19 strain

According to the Michigan Daily, there are five confirmed cases for this new strain of the coronavirus and there are 15 presumed positive cases throughout the department. Additionally, the strain made its way to campus at the beginning of the semester by an athlete traveling from the United Kingdom, per The Daily.

This past week, Michigan announced that they had 22 athletes test positive for COVID-19.

The B.1.1.7 variant was first discovered back in September in the United Kingdom and is estimated to be 50-percent more transmissible than the normal strain of the coronavirus, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This variant has been discovered in 12 states thus far and could become the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the country by March.

Michigan says it’s university public health officials are working with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Washtenaw County Health Department to create strategies on how to deal with this new strain of COVID-19. If there are no setbacks, Michigan athletics will reopen on Feb. 7.

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