UNO quarantines 4 teams as Nebraska approaches 400 deaths

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska at Omaha has quarantined four of its sports teams after some athletes tested positive for the coronavirus, even as data show the state approaching 400 COVID-19 deaths.

UNO shut down workouts and quarantined members this week of its men’s basketball, women’s softball, men’s baseball, and women’s volleyball teams, the Omaha World-Herald reported. That came after the results of 13 UNO athletes who were tested on Friday came back positive for the virus.

News of UNO’s outbreak comes as colleges around the country deal with rising case numbers as schools try to reconvene for the fall.

None of the UNO athletes who tested positive have shown any symptoms, UNO Chancellor Jeffrey Gold said Wednesday.

Each of the four teams had at least two athletes who tested positive, Gold said. Through Tuesday, 38 students and nine employees had tested positive at UNO. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln reported 245 positive results among students, faculty, and staff through August.

The state’s online tracker shows that as of Thursday, nearly 35,000 people have tested positive for the virus and 399 have died from it. The 7-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska has risen over the past two weeks from 256.43 new cases per day on Aug. 19 to 318 new cases per day on Sept. 2.