OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — If you were planning on shopping for Husker football game day supplies, you can put it off until next week. Due to Wisconsin student-athletes and staff contracting COVID-19, Saturday's game has been canceled.
The Wisconsin Athletics Department made the announcement this morning on the University's website, saying it was a joint decision between Wisconsin Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank and the Big Ten Conference.
"We have said from the beginning that the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff members comes first," Alvarez said. "Over the past several days we have seen a rising number of student-athletes and staff contract the virus. The responsible thing for us to do is to pause football-related activities for at least seven days."
The university says the game will not be rescheduled.
As of this morning, 12 people within the Wisconsin football program had tested positive for the virus over the past five days. Six of those were players and six were staff members, including Head Coach Paul Chryst.
"This morning I received the news that I had tested positive via a PCR test I took yesterday," Chryst said. "I informed my staff and the team this morning and am currently isolating at home. I had not been experiencing any symptoms and feel good as of this morning. I am disappointed for our players and coaching staff who put so much into preparing to play each week. But the safety of everyone in our program has to be our top priority and I support the decision made to pause our team activities."
The university is currently awaiting additional cases results.
The next Wisconsin game is scheduled against Purdue on Nov. 7.
Download our apps today for all of our latest coverage
Get the latest news and weather delivered straight to your inbox