Northeastern postponed winter sports, including games and practices, until Dec. 18 due to a cluster of COVID-19 cases on five varsity teams, according to a statement released by News@Northeastern this morning.

“When you’re making a decision of this magnitude, the number one priority is the wellness and safety of the student-athletes,” Konya said in the press release. “Analyzing the facts as we know them right now, this decision gives us our best chance of conducting intercollegiate athletics in an appropriate way in mid-December.”

The “small outbreaks” were found in the women’s hockey team, women’s basketball team and men’s and women’s track and field teams. A number of athletes on the men’s basketball team, women’s swimming team and the rowing teams were also quarantined due to Northeastern’s contact tracing. 

The postponement affects men’s and women’s hockey, as both were expected to play their first games of the season this upcoming weekend; basketball, as the men’s team was supposed to travel to Washington D.C. for the D.C. Paradise Jam on Thanksgiving day; and the women’s swimming and diving team. Fall sports are not impacted, as they already ended their winter practices.