INDIANAPOLIS — Six officials won’t be working the NCAA Tournament because one tested positive for COVID-19 and five others were deemed close contacts after arriving in Indianapolis.

NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt confirmed the details Tuesday. CBS Sports first reported that the officials received permission to leave for dinner together when their rooms weren’t ready and no food was available at their hotel.

They later returned to the hotel and one of the officials tested positive. The amount of time they would have to quarantine meant they wouldn’t be available for the entirety of the tournament, which begins Thursday with four games before 16 more on Friday.

“Everyone’s responsibility is to make their own decisions to be safe and healthy and ready to participate,” Gavitt said. “This is a virus we don’t control. It controls us. Not just from an event standpoint but an individual standpoint, we try to put safeguards in place to protect everyone’s health and safety and the integrity of the event, but it can’t be perfect. It’s not going to ever be perfect in a pandemic.”

Gavitt didn’t name the six officials who were removed. He expressed confidence their removals wouldn’t dilute the quality of officiating.