Kansas high school confirms positive COVID-19 test after resuming athletic activities
Fewer than three weeks after the return of Kansas high school athletics, at least one positive COVID-19 case has been found.
A student-athlete has contracted the virus at Lost Springs’ Centre High School despite taking necessary health and safety measures, USD 397 Superintendent Susan Beeson confirmed to the Eagle on Monday. Those at school were taking temperature tests, using social distancing, disinfecting equipment, frequently washing their hands and using sanitizer, she said.
When the positive test was found, all activities were suspended, and the case was reported to the Marion County health nurse. This is believed to be one of if not the only positive COVID-19 case of all Kansas high school student-athletes so far.
The student-athlete who tested positive, along with all teammates, was placed in a 14-day quarantine, Beeson said.
“We have now resumed activities beginning effective today, Monday,” Beeson said. “We are continuing to use those precautions, and those have been confirmed as proper by our county health department.”
Those activities include weight training, sports conditioning and driver’s education classes. Sport-specific practices have not resumed.
Centre competes in 8-man Division II football and Class 1A basketball, the smallest respective classifications in Kansas high school athletics. Although the school and town are small, Beeson said it is important to take every precaution possible to prevent spread of the virus, even as restrictions are lifted across Kansas.
“I think it’s imperative that we continue to practice the precautions that have been identified to control the spread of COVID-19,” Beeson said. “We cannot lose sight of that because our goal at public schools is always the safety of our students, teachers and faculty.”
In regard to how this positive case affects the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA), because the test was found during the summer season, the student-athlete is not officially competing under KSHSAA auspices, executive director Bill Faflick said.
One positive COVID-19 test will not delay the start of fall sports or cancel them altogether, but Faflick said, adding that, as KSHSAA announced May 1, each community’s health authorities and unified school district holds discretion on whether to bring student-athletes back to school for summer activities.
But KSHSAA is continuing to look at the data on COVID-19 and making plans for how to direct its member schools at the appropriate time, Faflick said.
“We’ll wait until about the middle of July, about a month before the fall season begins, to provide that back-to-school guidance,” Faflick said. “Talk to your local health departments, because this is not something that is required.”
The KSHSAA fall season begins Aug. 17.
This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 12:17 PM.