The Latest: Duke pauses football due to COVID-19 cluster
By The Associated Press - Mar. 09, 2021 04:51 PM EST
Colorado Rockies' Trevor Story (27) high-fives Dom Nunez (3) after scoring a three run homer during the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Friday, March 5, 2021, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
John Bazemore
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The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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Duke has paused spring football activities indefinitely due to a COVID-19 cluster involving 10 athletes.

The school in Durham, North Carolina, announced the pause Tuesday, saying the cluster of cases was tied to people who attended team activities together. Those affected are in isolation.

The school said contact tracers have identified others who possibly had close contact with someone who tested positive. Those people have been notified and are in quarantine.

The team started spring practice Feb. 26 and conducted three official workouts before the pause.

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The Atlanta Hawks will sell about 1,000 single-game tickets per game for the second half of the season after having only limited season-ticket members at their home games before the All-Star break.

Hawks chief revenue office Andrew Saltzman says the team is “thrilled to welcome more Hawks fans back to State Farm Arena as we continue the second half of the 2020-21 NBA season.”

The team’s second-half home schedule begins Saturday and Sunday with games against Sacramento and Cleveland, respectively. The reported attendance for the Hawks’ last home game, a 122-114 win over Boston on Feb. 24, was 1,537.

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The Colorado Rockies have gotten permission to have 21,363 fans at home games this season beginning with opening day on April 1.

That figure represents 42.6% capacity of the 50,144-seat Coors Field in downtown Denver. Previously, the Rockies had gotten the green light for crowds of 12,500.

There were no fans at regular-season games last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Ohio State has halted football team workouts for a week because of an increase in positive COVID-19 tests within the program.

The school said Tuesday that team activities would pause and administrative offices in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center would close “out of an abundance of caution and with the health, safety and well-being of the student-athletes, coaches and football and facility support staff as the highest priority.”

The Buckeyes are scheduled to open spring practice on March 19.

“We have been successful in safely hosting nearly 100 athletic events on campus this year with limited disruptions, but this pandemic is not over,” Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said. “We will continue to stress the safety measures of wearing masks, consistent and thorough hand washing and physical distancing, and we will remain vigilant in those areas.”

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