CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - COVID-19 testing at the University of Illinois found 23 athletes tested positive for the virus.

The school has conducted over 1,200 COVID-19 tests in the weekly testing of athletes who had returned to campus for voluntary team activities. As of July July 30, the school had 164 student-athletes who were on campus. 

The groups of athletes began arriving in early June. They include those who compete in football, soccer, volleyball, men's basketball and women's basketball. 

With 23 positive results, the U of I has a positivity rate of 1.9 percent among athletes. Only three of those are still active, while the rest have recovered and returned to team activities. Only four positive cases were symptomatic and no hospitalizations were required. 

Twelve of the 23 who tested positive had positive results right when they arrived on campus, the school said, while the others picked up the virus by interactions with roommates and through community spread. 

The school said football accounted for over 75 percent of the positive tests. There are over 100 football student-athletes currently on the U of I campus. 

The school tested staff who regularly interact with Illini student-athletes and only had two positive results out of over 420 staff tested. Staff is also tested weekly. 

A U of I press release also added the following: 

"There is no evidence that any of the positive transmissions came through athletic activities or by the use of campus athletics facilities. The DIA and its sports medicine staff have followed strict protocols and testing procedures developed in consultation with campus and community partners, including the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, UI McKinley Health Center, Carle Health System and the University's SHIELD group. Guidance from national and state health officials, along with the NCAA and Big Ten, was also incorporated. These protocols relate to weekly testing, quarantining and isolation, daily screenings, facility access and cleaning, and workout procedures, all of which have contributed to the low positivity rate."