Two California high schools have canceled their upcoming football games over COVID cases among students in the latest instance of new COVID measures cropping up as the school year starts.
Esparto High School, which is located west of Sacramento, canceled its football game, which was scheduled for Friday, after six players contracted COVID and seven more players were out due to injuries.
“Ensuring the well-being of students is not only a moral obligation but also a legal and ethical responsibility,” the district’s superintendent, Christina Goennier, told FOX40.
The local county health officer, Dr. Aimee Sisson, expressed support for the school’s’ decision to cancel the game.
“Our role in the health department is to support our schools in being able to stay open for that in-person instruction,” Sisson said. “We provide support certain tips on what to do when there are cases provide testing resources. But really our goal for this school year is to keep kids in school in person, but also to do so safely.”
It is not yet clear whether teams will make up the game, so a makeup date has not been scheduled.
Likewise, Santa Paula High School, north of Los Angeles, also canceled its Friday football game against La Cañada High School due to 20 positive COVID cases within the football and cheerleading teams.
“Canceled because of COVID, it’s going around the team,” one student told CBS Los Angeles. “Stopping things before it gets worse.”
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Some parents are frustrated that their kids are missing out after months of lockdowns.
“She couldn’t go to the movies. Couldn’t do nothing; locked down with a Chromebook,” one parent told the outlet. “It was horrible. Totally affected her life.”
The school’s football team, the Santa Paula Cardinals, are currently ranked 3-0 in the Citrus Coast high school football standings, but the cancelation could potentially break their momentum.
A third high school also canceled its football game earlier in the season, according to Ventura County Health Officer Dr. Robert Levin.
“We’ve had two high schools that have had to cancel football games,” Levin said.
Nordoff High School in Ojai, which is up the road from Santa Paula, canceled a football game due to COVID cases.
COVID cases have ticked up in several areas of the country, including Los Angeles, where cases have jumped from 4% to 16% in one week recently.
Several other schools across the country and at least one California employer have implemented new COVID restrictions recently.
This week, a Maryland elementary school reinstated its face mask mandate after several students tested positive for COVID. Rosemary Hills Elementary School just north of Washington, D.C., is requiring the third grade class and school staff to wear masks for 10 days after “three or more” third graders tested positive for COVID.
Morris Brown College, a private, historically black liberal arts school in Atlanta, announced a two-week mask mandate last month despite no active COVID cases on campus. Students were required to practice social distancing and were prohibited from having parties or large gatherings. They were also required to get their temperature checked when they arrived on campus and comply with contact tracing efforts.
A major Hollywood movie studio brought back its mask mandate last month as well. Lionsgate reinstated its mask mandate for most of its Santa Monica office employees after several employees tested positive for COVID. The studio said it would have contact tracing efforts. Late last month, though, Lionsgate said it would lift its mask mandate again.