Duke pauses women’s basketball due to COVID-19, game against NC State postponed
Duke’s women’s basketball program is pausing team activities indefinitely due to two positive tests for COVID-19 among its traveling party.
The school announced Wednesday its next two scheduled games -- Sunday at No. 4 N.C. State and Tuesday at home with nonconference foe UNC-Wilmington -- are postponed.
The Blue Devils already saw their ACC game with Miami last Sunday postponed.
Duke’s COVID-19 issues have arisen ever since the Blue Devils played Louisville on Dec. 9, losing 73-49 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Two days later, the ACC announced Louisville’s scheduled game with North Carolina was postponed due to positive tests, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing within the Louisville’s team.
The following day, on Dec. 12, the ACC called off Duke’s game at Miami because of contact tracing at Duke, not due to any positive cases.
Now the situation has escalated further with Duke announcing the presence of two positive cases.
Duke’s team is adhering to the ACC COVID-19 Medical Advisory Group’s guidelines, which were developed last summer and most recently updated on Dec. 1.
According to those guidelines, basketball and football are considered high-risk sports due to the athletes being in such close proximity with each other. Since basketball is played indoors, that also adds to its risk level.
Players, coaches and other team personnel are tested within 48 hours after competition and 72 hours prior to the next competition. Duke tests its teams daily.
A team member identified through contact tracing as being in close contact with a known positive individual is required to quarantine for 14 days and must complete the full quarantine before returning to activity.
Any team member who tests positive for COVID-19 must isolate for at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms or a positive test. They also must go 24 hours following the resolution of symptoms (fever, coughing, shortness of breath) without the symptoms returning.
Duke’s next scheduled game is Dec. 31 against Louisville.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, continue to be on a pause from team activities, which postponed their scheduled game for Thursday with Florida State.
The ACC also announced Wednesday that Georgia Tech has paused its women’s basketball program due to a positive COVID-19 case. Miami’s game with the Yellow Jackets, scheduled for Thursday, is postponed.
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Duke pauses women’s basketball due to COVID-19, game against NC State postponed."