Tucson Empire football players and coaches are quarantined after a football player tested positive for COVID-19, a spokeswoman for the Vail School District said.

Empire was informed Sunday about a player testing positive. A number of players who were in contact with the player who tested postive were given rapid tests that came back negative, said district spokeswoman Darcy Mentone.

She said not every student who was in contact with the player has been tested.

The school opened to hybrid learning on Monday, with some students staying home for online school and others in the classroom.

“The students and coaches are quarantined,” she said. “They had been practicing.”

The team can return to practices once everybody exposed to the player comes back with negative tests, Mentone said. Otherwise, they will have to remain at home in quarantine for 14 days.

It is unknown when Empire will start its football season. It has no games scheduled right now.

Most schools in the state start next week in the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s timeline.

But most Tucson-area superintendents are following the guidance of the Pima County Health Department, which has yet to give the green light for contact sports.

“It’ a good reminder to everyone out there that they have to balance the practice with the mitigation strategies and the safety,” Mentone said. “Thank goodness nobody else has tested positive.”

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