Tough day for sports teams testing positive

On June 19, the Phillies announced five players tested positive for COVID-19, and later 23 from Clemson’s football program did the same.

The Phillies shut their spring complex after five players tested positive for COVID-19 and at least two others teams closed camps June 19, raising the possibility the coronavirus pandemic could scuttle all attempts at a Major League Baseball season.

The Blue Jays shuttered their site in Dunedin, Florida — about five miles from the Phillies’ camp in Clearwater — after a player showed symptoms consistent with the virus.

The Giants’ facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, was shut after one person who had been to the site and one family member exhibited symptoms June 18.

Philadelphia became the first big league team known to be struck by the outbreak.

Three staff members at the camp also tested positive, and the Phillies didn’t identify any of those affected.

The closures came while MLB owners and players try to negotiate a deal to begin the season amid the pandemic, with the parties stuck in a bitter dispute over money.

The sides had hoped to have players begin testing Tuesday and then start a second round of spring training on June 26. Most teams would likely hold those workouts at their home ballparks, rather than at their spring camps in Florida and Arizona.

CLEMSON FOOTBALL PLAYERS TEST POSITIVE FOR VIRUS » Clemson said 23 football players have tested positive for coronavirus since returning to campus this month.

Clemson announced the results June 19. It did not identify the athletes.

In all, school spokesman Jeff Kallin said 28 people were found with COVID-19 since testing began for athletes and other personnel on June 8.

The uptick at Clemson mirrors one in the state of

South Carolina, which reported a single-day high of 1,081 people testing positive on Friday.

Along with the players, two football staffers and three athletes from other sports were found with the virus.

The school said all were asymptomatic and have begun isolation for at least 10 days. No one has been hospitalized.

Those who’ve been in contact with people testing positive have been asked to selfquarantine for at least two weeks.

In all, Clemson has administered 315 tests for the disease since athletes came back to athletic facilities.

WATNEY BECOMES FIRST PGA TOUR GOLFER TO TEST POSITIVE » Five-time PGA Tour winner Nick Watney tested positive for the coronavirus, the first player with a confirmed infection since golf resumed a full schedule last week.

Watney immediately withdrew from the RBC Heritage and must self-isolate for at least 10 days under the PGA Tour’s protocols.

He did not return a telephone call seeking comment. Watney played the opening round with Vaughn Taylor and Luke List, and a rules official notified them at the turn of the positive test.

“I was a little shocked, to be honest,” Taylor said. “Heart started racing, got a little nervous. Just hope Nick is doing well and we get through this.”

Watney missed the cut last week in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. He traveled on his own to South Carolina, and his coronavirus test upon arrival at Harbour Town was negative.

Before arriving to the course for his second round, he reported symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Watney was tested again, and the result came back positive.