No matter how vigilant and hardfast one remains with following social distancing protocol and avoiding being exposed to COVID-19, there are no guarantees.

The Ohio State football team canceled its game at Illinois on Saturday following an increase in population positivity rates within the 170 Tier 1 personnel that includes players, staff and coaches.

RELATED: Ohio State-Illinois canceled as Buckeyes pause team activities

Head coach Ryan Day was one of those individuals who tested positive, and went into quarantine at his home.

“It’s been a very, very emotional and difficult week for everybody in the program,” Day said Saturday. “Our focus right now is to keep everybody safe. I’m resting comfortably at home, but this certainly is a very trying week for all of us here.”

Day said the support he and the team have received has meant a lot during a week in which they celebrated Thanksgiving away from their families.

“I have an extremely heavy heart, though,” Day said. “The sacrifices have been made by so many and the anxiety over months and months and months of everyday getting test results back to make sure that the entire program is safe.

“Experiencing it this week, during Thanksgiving week, I can’t sit here and tell you it’s anything other than really, really hard.”

The Buckeyes have been doing daily antigen testing since Sept. 30. Day said while the process has been excellent, it hasn’t been an easy one emotionally.

“The thing we fear the most every time those test results come back, you hold your breath everyday to see what’s going on and how your team is doing. It’s been very, very difficult that way,” Day said. “Couldn’t have been prouder of the way our entire organization has handled it.”

As early results from testing this week became precautionary, the Buckeyes didn’t wear helmets during practice and tackled trash cans. Day said it was a “practice on paper” because the team had to wear masks the entire time.

Day said assistant head coach and defensive line coach Larry Johnson has been doing a “great” job, in addition to other assistants, with communicating with the team. The staff and team meetings are being held over Zoom, according to the Buckeyes head coach.

Day said the players who’ve tested positive will be out for 10 days and go into self-isolation. A cardiac MRI to check the potential status of myocarditis will be administered as well to get the players on the track to return to competition.

Athletics team physician Dr. James Borchers said that of the individuals who tested positive, none have required “significant medical treatment” and are “doing very well” at home.

“We have every intention of providing them what they need, we have every expectation they will recover and continue to do well and hopefully be able to return not only to athletics but to the other responsibilities they have in their daily lives as quickly as possible,” Borchers said.

RELATED: Smith: 'Haven't even thought about' seeking change to 6-game, 21-day rules

Athletic director Gene Smith didn’t project a timeline for the imminent next few days, citing “too much uncertainty.”

“We have to look at each day and sees what we got,” Smith said. “It’s day-to-day, I can’t say we have a certain day or time. We just don’t have that.”

Day said if testing results come back promising and it appears the Buckeyes can return early next week to a semblance of normal activities, then a “good, hard” practice can be done on Thursday with walkthroughs completed on Friday in advance of the road game at Michigan State on Dec. 5.

Meanwhile, though, the focus is on the health and safety of the team and their loved ones. Day said nothing about this week has been fun, but there is still a way to get better from the experience.

“I told the team it’s another opportunity to get through some adversity and work through adversity and learn more about yourselves,” Day said. “That’s the only way I can describe a positive spin on it right now. It’s just going to make us tougher, it’s going to make us stronger, it’s going to make our young men better husbands, better fathers.

“I believe going through all of this is going to make us all stronger. That doesn’t mean it’s been easy, doesn’t mean it’s been any fun at all.”