Gophers athletics department announces 2.5% positivity rate among COVID-19 tests

The Gophers athletics department released updated testing results Thursday, finding 55 positive results in the month of September.

The department ran 2,183 COVID-19 tests last month for a 2.5% positivity rate. Since the department began testing in June, there have been 3,589 tests and 98 positives for an overall positivity rate of 2.7%.

Athletes with positive results isolate until medical staff clear them to rejoin their teams, and the department contact traces anyone potentially exposed to the virus to help prevent spread.

This update comes after the Minnesota Department of Health announced last week that 175 infections linked back to the University's Twin Cities campus for the two weeks of Sept. 6-19. There have been a total of 302 infections linked to the campus since Aug. 1.

In the Gophers previous updates, 43 athletes from multiple sports tested positive from 1,406 tests in July and August for a positivity rate of 3.1% while seven tested positive from 170 tests in June for a 4.1% positivity rate.