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Southern California racetrack cancels races after 15 jockeys, 7 workers test positive for COVID-19

A major racetrack in Southern California canceled its races this weekend after nearly two dozen jockeys and workers tested positive for COVID-19, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, located just north of San Diego, will shut down races until next week after 15 jockeys and seven other workers at the track tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday. All but one of the jockeys raced over Independence Day weekend at Los Alamitos in Orange County, California, and all seven workers were with the jockeys in Los Alamitos, too.

“The good news is that all our jockeys and personnel who tested positive are showing no symptoms,” Del Mar COO Josh Rubinstein said, via the Union-Tribune. “If they are asymptomatic, they will be eligible to ride after 10 days.”

Four other jockeys who competed at Los Alamitos have since tested positive, too, bringing the total from that weekend to 19.

Del Mar announced several new safety measures on Wednesday, too, including making additional testing available and reconfiguring the jockeys’ quarters to create more space. The track will also only let jockeys who are based in California to ride there through the end of the summer season.

[ Coronavirus: How the sports world is responding to the pandemic ]

The track is now planning to resume racing on July 24.

There were more than 3.5 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States as of Wednesday afternoon, according to The New York Times, and more than 137,000 deaths attributed to it. The country set a new single-day record on Friday, recording more than 68,000 new cases alone, and has averaged more than 61,000 new cases a day over the past week.

California had nearly 353,000 confirmed cases, the second-most in the country behind only New York, and set a new single-day record on Tuesday with more than 10,000 new cases alone. San Diego County had more than 21,500 cases.

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