Weekend events canceled due to COVID
MONTEREY >> After facing an uptick in positive COVID-19 cases this week, Monterey High School has decided to cancel several events it had scheduled for this weekend.
According to a message to families from Monterey High Principal Tom Newton, Friday night’s junior varsity and varsity football games against Gonzales High were canceled, alongside a movie night also planned for Friday and Monterey Peninsula Unified School District’s Saturday Academy.
“In an effort to be proactive and keep our students and staff safe, I have made the decision to cancel large gatherings of students this weekend to limit congregations and to protect any possible exposure to COVID-19,” Newton wrote.
These cancellations follow
last week’s postponement of Monterey High’s football game against North Salinas High after a member of Monterey High’s varsity team tested positive for COVID-19. Since then, a total of five football players have tested positive, according to Monterey Peninsula Unified Superintendent
PK Diffenbaugh.
Other cases unrelated to the football team have also arisen at the school this past week, though Diffenbaugh assured that these were the result of community-based transmission.
As of Friday, there have been 29 cases of COVID-19 recorded among 1,370 students at Monterey High since the start of this school year on Aug. 4. Though only one of those cases has been recorded as a school-based exposure, Diffenbaugh and Newton made the decision to cancel any events at Monterey High that would put students at risk of contracting the virus while on campus.
“We’re not in a situation where there are a whole bunch of cases being transmitted at school, but it was clear to us that this week was different than previous weeks in terms of the number of cases we were seeing,” said Diffenbaugh. “We wanted to be proactive and err on the side of caution because the last thing we want is to be in a situation where we have to look at closing a class or the school for a number of days.
“It’s better to be proactive now to ensure the campus stays safe.”