126021282_web1_Pedri.jpeg

Three Luzerne County offices impacted by employee coronavirus cases

126020797_web1_Central-Court-pic

Central Court shut down due to possible Covid exposure

By The Associated Press 
 The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:
 ___
 No. 22 Texas’ game at Kansas scheduled for Saturday has been postponed to Dec. 12 because the Jayhawks cannot meet the Big 12′s roster limits for a position group due to a combination of injuries and COVID-19-related issues.
 The game is just the second Big 12 Conference game to be postponed this season because of the virus, but the 13th across the country this week in major college football.
 Oklahoma State at Baylor, which was postponed in mid-October when Baylor temporarily suspended football operations after several positive test results for COVID-19, will also be played Dec. 12. 
 ___
 No. 24 Louisiana-Lafayette’s nonconference game against Central Arkansas scheduled for Saturday has been called off because of COVID-19 concerns with the Ragin’ Cajuns, and Utah State at Wyoming on Thursday was also canceled.
 ULL said in a release it was hopeful to return to practice Saturday so it could begin preparing for its next Sun Belt game, against Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 28.
 Utah State's COVID-19 cases forced the Aggies to call off their Mountain West game against the Cowboys.
 The number of games across all of FBS postponed or canceled was up to 12 out of 62 scheduled. Last week 15 out of 59 were called off.
 ___
 Ohio State will prohibit family and friends of players and coaches from attending football games this season because of the dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases in the state.
 The school has allowed a few hundred people at the first two home games, but that will end with the No. 3 Buckeyes’ game at Ohio Stadium on Saturday against No. 9 Indiana. The stadium holds about 105,000.
 In a release, Ohio State said the decision was made after the Columbus Department of Health on Wednesday issued a 28-day stay-at-home advisory that starts at 6 p.m. Friday to try to stem further spread of the pandemic.
 The decision regarding football games will be re-evaluated before the final home game against Michigan Dec. 12. But families won’t be allowed to attend men’s and women’s basketball or hockey games scheduled in December.
 A limited number of media will be allowed to cover Saturday’s football game, which will be nationally televised on FOX.
 ___
 Six more ECHL teams have opted out of playing this season in second-tier minor league hockey because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 The entire North Division -- the Adirondack Thunder, Brampton Beast, Maine Mariners, Newfoundland Growlers, Reading Royals and Worcester Railers -- opted out, leaving 18 teams. The Norfolk Admirals and Gwinnett Gladiators opted out earlier.
 Players on those teams are free agents. The league says all teams plan to be back for 2021-22. They get to retain players’ future rights if they pay their insurance this season.
 ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin says he doesn't see a path for teams in the highly affected Northeast to allow fans at games. 
 The ECHL is scheduled to begin the season Dec. 11 with 13 teams in action. The remaining team will start Jan. 15.
 The NHL is still planning to start Jan. 1, though talks between owners and players are ongoing.
 ___
 The PGA Tour now has three players who have tested positive for the coronavirus during the RSM Classic at Sea Island.
 Kramer Hickok and Henrik Norlander each received positive tests and have withdrawn. Hickok got into the tournament as an alternate after Bill Haas tested positive earlier in the week.
 That’s the most positive tests on the PGA Tour since late June, when four players tested positive in a span of a week. Cameron Champ, Denny McCarthy and Dylan Frittelli had positive tests in Connecticut, and Harris English tested positive in Detroit. Two caddies also had positive tests that led to the precautionary withdrawal of their players, Brooks Koepka and Graeme McDowell.
 Champ returned two negative tests and was allowed to play the following week.
 Norlander said he had a COVID-19 test on Wednesday morning after noticing symptoms the night before.
 That brings to 18 the number of PGA Tour players who have tested positive since golf resumed on June 8.
 ___
 The American Athletic Conference says Houston at SMU and Navy at South Florida scheduled for Saturday have been postponed because of COVID-19 issues.
 It is the fourth game Houston has had called off this season because of the coronavirus but the first to be wiped out because the Cougars were unable to play.
 Navy has now had three straight games postponed, though this time the opponent was the problem. USF said it could not play because of the impact of COVID-19 on its team.
 No make-up dates were immediately announced. The schools said they will work with the conference to reschedule.
 The two postponements raise the number of games disrupted this week by the virus across major college football to 10 after 15 were called off last week. 
 ___
 The Union of European Football Associations has decided that Norway was responsible for not being able to field a side against Romania, so it has forfeited the Nations League game as a 3-0 loss.
 The urgent disciplinary verdict on Sunday’s canceled game was announced hours before Norway was to field an under-strength team for a decisive game in its group against leader Austria on Wednesday.
 At the weekend, public health officials in Norway ordered the players to quarantine and not fly to Bucharest after defender Omar Elabdellaoui tested positive for COVID-19. The Norwegian soccer body said it could not defy the government decision.
 It was the first Nations League game canceled since the current edition started in September during the coronavirus pandemic.
 A second UEFA disciplinary verdict is due within days. Ukraine was unable to play host Switzerland on Tuesday because the squad was quarantined by public health officials after several COVID-19 infections in the squad.
 Ukraine risks forfeiting the game as a 3-0 loss for failing to ensure replacement players were available. The squad had been hit with virus cases before arriving in Switzerland.
 ___ The Cleveland Browns are placing starting right tackle Jack Conklin, kicker Cody Parkey, and long snapper Charley Hughlett on the COVID-19 list.
 It’s the latest development with the virus for the team, which previously placed offensive lineman Chris Hubbard and fullback Andy Janovich on the list and had a staffer test positive for the novel coronavirus last week.
 The NFL created the list for players who have either tested positive for COVID-19 or have been quarantined after having been in close contact with an infected person.
 The Browns have had to close their facility twice in the past six days to do contact tracing after receiving results of a positive test.
 Conklin signed with Cleveland as a free agent in March and has solidified a troublesome position.
 Cleveland hosts Philadelphia on Sunday.
 ___
 Arsenal and Bosnia defender Sead Kolasinac has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, adding to Bosnia’s woes ahead of a Nations League match against Italy.
 The Bosnian soccer federation said Wednesday that besides Kolasinac, another national team player, Ibrahim Sehic, also tested positive.
 Bosnia also will be without another six players in the home match on Wednesday, including its main striker, Edin Dzeko, because of positive tests for COVID-19 and league quarantine guidelines.
 ___
 Professional soccer and hockey clubs in Switzerland can get federal funds to compensate for lost ticket sales if they cut salaries.
 The Swiss Federal Council says it wants to “compensate clubs for up to two thirds of their lost ticket sales revenue” during the coronavirus pandemic.
 The federal aid will come with the requirement of “permanently reducing top salaries” and paying no shareholder dividends, maintaining investment in youth and women’s sport and being transparent about their spending.
 The government says the majority of a $192 million fund kept for loans to sports clubs in 2021 could be allocated in “non-repayable contributions.”
 Swiss soccer and hockey officials have said that clubs risk bankruptcy after months playing in front of no or few paying spectators.
 ___
 Iowa State says only families and guests of athletes and staff will be allowed to attend the Cyclones’ football game against Kansas State on Saturday and men’s and women’s basketball games through November.
 The marching band and spirit squad also will attend the football game.
 Athletic director Jamie Pollard says the decision was based on discussions with university and community leaders as the state has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases.
 Pollard says the fan base has been compliant with mitigation measures this fall and there are no known cases of COVID resulting from fans attending football games. He says it’s in the best interest of the community for Iowa State to be a leader in limiting social gatherings at this time.
 Iowa State had been limiting attendance to 15,000 for football games and originally planned to allow 10% capacity for basketball games at Hilton Coliseum.
 ___
 The Serbian soccer federation says three national team players have tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of a match against Russia in the Nations League.
 Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Verona midfielder Darko Lazovic and Basel goalkeeper Djordje Nikolic have been isolated from the rest of the squad.
 Serbia players Luka Milojevic and Aleksandar Kolarov have previously tested positive for COVID-19.
 ___
 More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Latest: No. 22 Texas at Kansas postponed to December