Emerson cancels all weekend sporting activities following announcement of seven new positives Thursday

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Alec Klusza

The men’s soccer team trains at Rotch Field in the South End three times per week.

Emerson canceled all sports games and practices this weekend, just one day after the college announced that seven students had tested positive for COVID-19, according to Athletic Director Patricia Nicol. 

A Thursday night Instagram post from Emerson athletics announced the cancellation of a women’s lacrosse game “due to COVID-19 protocols.” The in-season teams affected by the college’s decision are baseball, men’s lacrosse, and softball. All out-of-season teams’ practices are also on hold for the weekend, Nicol said. 

In a Thursday night email to the community, Assistant Vice President for Campus Life and “COVID Lead” Erik Muurisepp wrote that the new positive cases “seem to be linked and resulted in transmission within a group of people.” The positives came from four students on-campus and three students off-campus. 

Muurisepp previously told The Beacon the college would only release an update like the one sent Thursday if they were observing any “concerning patterns.”

The number of students in quarantine and isolation on campus spiked Thursday and Friday — jumping from one student in isolation and three in quarantine on Tuesday to nine students in isolation and 28 in quarantine by Friday. 

The college has yet to publicly identify the group of people impacted by the positive tests, but restrictions have not been announced on any campus groups aside from athletics. 

The Fitness Center remains open to all members of the Emerson community.