The Latest: NFL counts 8 new positive tests among players

By The Associated Press 21 October 2020, 12:00AM

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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The NFL and the Players Association say there were eight new confirmed positive tests among players and 11 new confirmed positives among other personnel in the latest round of testing for the novel coronavirus.

In all, 15,167 tests were administered last week to 2,459 players, and 23,713 tests were given to 5,340 personnel.

The league says the latest round of testing brings the total to more than 450,000 that have been given to players and personnel since the beginning of August, and 47 players and 71 other personnel were confirmed positive.

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Florida’s COVID-19 outbreak seems to be contained.

The 10th-ranked Gators reported four new positives since the middle of last week, when they postponed two games because of the novel coronavirus.

Florida reported 25 new cases Tuesday from the past week of daily testing, but athletic director Scott Stricklin said last Wednesday that 21 football players had tested positive. Coach Dan Mullen and at least two assistants also tested positive.

The Gators (2-1) were scheduled to host defending national champion LSU last week and Missouri this Saturday in the Swamp. The Southeastern Conference rescheduled both games because Florida would not have had at least 53 scholarship players available since so many guys were quarantined because of positive tests or because of contact tracing involving the highly transmissible virus.

Florida’s football team has had 31 positive tests in October. The school’s other sports have had just one positive this month.

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Dutch soccer club AZ Alkmaar is planning to fly for its Europa League game against Napoli on Thursday even with 13 players sidelined with coronavirus infections.

AZ says the figure of 13 includes eight new cases among players following an outbreak reported earlier. The club adds that most of those players do not have symptoms.

AZ says it can still name a squad of 17 other players to fly to Italy on Wednesday for the game.

AZ says the game will go ahead as scheduled “unless local authorities ban it.” UEFA also says the game is going ahead.

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Rugby Europe has suspended all internationals to the end of November, including the long-delayed last round of the men’s championship.

On Nov. 1 were scheduled Romania vs. Belgium and Georgia vs. Russia, and on Nov. 15 Spain vs. Portugal. They have been postponed since March.

Georgia has already retained the title, while Romania is in last place, which drops the occupier into a promotion-relegation match against the waiting Netherlands.

“Our players and our officials are mostly ‘amateurs,’” Rugby Europe president Octavian Morariu said on Tuesday. “We cannot expose them to the virus or to quarantine periods that would be problematic for them.”

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Colombian cyclist Fernando Gaviria has tested positive for the coronavirus and has been withdrawn from the Giro d’Italia.

Gaviria and a staff member for Team AG2R La Mondiale were the only positives out of 492 tests carried out Sunday and Monday.

Gaviria’s UAE Team Emirates says the rider “was immediately isolated following the test result and is feeling well and is completely asymptomatic.”

The team notes that Gaviria also had COVID-19 in March.

Gaviria has won five stages at the Giro during his career.

Overall contenders Simon Yates and Steven Kruijswijk had already been withdrawn from the race after testing positive. Australian standout Michael Matthews also was withdrawn. The Mitchelton-Scott and Jumbo-Visma teams withdrew their entire squads last week following a series of positive results from the first rest day.

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More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

By The Associated Press 21 October 2020, 12:00AM
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