SAN JOSE — San Jose State, which has temporarily suspended its baseball program, had 16 more positive COVID-19 cases involving Spartan athletes, according to Santa Clara County public health department data.
University officials reported the recent cases to county health officials, who on Thursday did not identify the athletes or which sports they played.
The school announced Monday on its website that all activities involving the baseball team had stopped because of “safety concerns stemming from COVID-19 and student-athlete conduct.”
The announcement said the team is scheduled to return to competition on March 27 with a series against Mountain West favorite San Diego State. But the statement added that the return is contingent on compliance with Santa Clara County public health guidelines specific to intercollegiate athletics.
“Being a student-athlete and competing at the highest level are privileges that we recognize,” athletics director Marie Tuite said in the statement. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, SJSU athletics is asking every student-athlete to strictly adhere to all health and safety guidelines.”
According to the statement, the baseball program halted team activities in late January because of COVID-19 related issues.
The baseball team was picked to finish last in the seven-school Mountain West Conference by league coaches. The Spartans were 5-12 with a six-game losing streak last year when the season was canceled in mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program returned six starters and 11 pitchers from the 2020 season. Coach Brad Sanfilippo has a 52-76 record entering his fourth year at San Jose State. The team has not had a winning record since going 35-26 in 2011.
It is unclear if the recent positive tests involve only the baseball program.
School officials have declined to provide general coronavirus numbers citing California privacy laws that prohibit information that could lead to the identification of an individual.
“San Jose State University coaches and athletics staff work hard to reinforce the protocols that are put in place to protect the student-athletes, and noncompliance is handled accordingly,” school officials said in a statement issued Thursday to the Bay Area News Group.
Ten students throughout the campus have tested positive for the virus in the past 14 days, according to the school’s COVID-19 dashboard that was updated Thursday. The school has announced 81 positive cases among its student population since last March and a total of 189 cases involving the campus community.
The latest issue involving athletes comes in the wake of an outbreak with the San Jose State football team. In early January, the county reported that school officials had reported 13 cases involving the football program.
Those cases stemmed from the Spartans’ controversial return to campus on Dec. 20 after winning the Mountain West championship in Las Vegas. At the time, the county had an order in place that anyone traveling into the area from beyond 150 miles needed to quarantine for 10 days.
But some team members went to their homes for the Christmas holidays after landing at Mineta San Jose International Airport. In all, the players, coaches and staff left within seven days to participate in the Arizona Bowl on Dec. 31 in Tucson.
At the time, Santa Clara County Executive Jeffrey Smith said the team had violated the spirit of the law, if not the directive itself.
The Spartans had six COVID-19 cases in Tucson, where it suffered its only defeat of the season with a 34-13 loss to Ball State. It is unclear whether the six positives in Arizona were part of the 13 cases the school reported to county health officials.
San Jose State’s athletics department problems with the pandemic did not end there. Three weeks ago, the county’s enforcement unit initiated an investigation into complaints that athletic department employees were being forced to work in the office during the pandemic. The inquiry did not result in a notice of a violation, the county said Thursday in an unattributed statement.
