Exeter, Wyo players test positive for COVID
Five Berks schools suspend workouts due to positive tests or precautionary measures
A Wyomissing School District student-athlete has tested positive for COVID-19 and voluntary workouts for its high school football team have been suspended, superintendent Robert Scoboria announced in an email to district parents and guardians Saturday.
“We are in communication with the Department of Health and are following their recommendations,” Scoboria said in the email.
Wyomissing is the fifth Berks County school district to have workouts at least suspended due to the coronavirus, joining Exeter, Schuylkill Valley, Reading High and Muhlenberg.
Exeter had a player test positive for COVID-19 a week earlier while the other three suspended due to precautionary measures.
Muhlenberg became the fourth Berks County school district to suspend voluntary workouts Thursday, in this case for football, though no players have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Athletic director Dr. Tim Moyer said in a statement that students who had attended the voluntary workouts for the sport “may have had a secondary exposure to an individual who was in close contact with someone who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.”
The statement said the workouts were suspended “out of an abundance of caution,” and that the decision was made after reviewing recommendations from the CDC, the state Department of Health and other district advisors.
No announcement was made regarding the length of the suspension.
Muhlenberg follows Schuylkill Valley, Reading High and Exeter in suspending some voluntary workouts.
Schuylkill Valley announced Wednesday that it has suspended activities for the high school football team and high school and junior high cheerleading because an athlete’s parent tested positive for COVID-19.
Earlier Wednesday, the Reading School District announced it was suspending one unidentified team’s voluntary workouts for 14 days after officials learned that an athlete in that sport had been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.
The Exeter School District announced last Sunday night that a football player there had tested positive for the coronavirus and that it was suspending voluntary workouts in that sport for 14 days.
o parents and guardians, Exeter announced the first known positive coronavirus case for a Berks County high school athlete and that it was suspending voluntary workouts for the football team for 14 days.
Sixty-six high school athletes and 35 in junior high had been participating in Exeter’s workouts, which began July 1, according to director of athletics Tom Legath. Field hockey, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls cross country, girls tennis and girls volleyball will continue their workouts.
“We are absolutely certain that the other sports had no cross contact with the football team,” said Minor, who’s serving as Exeter’s pandemic coordinator. “The football players didn’t practice at the same time or in the same place as the other sports. We are insisting that any football players who practiced with another team refrain from attending those practices for the 14 days.”
Exeter officials are encouraging football players and coaches to quarantine for 14 days before they decide if and when the workouts resume.
Minor said the school district will contact the Berks and Pennsylvania reporting and tracing agencies if there are more positive cases.
“If there are no other cases and no one else comes forward with symptoms (after the 14 days),” Minor said, “we’ll consult with those agencies and make a determination about continuing football practice.”
She said she wasn’t shocked that a Berks athlete tested positive, especially because the number of cases in Pennsylvania is rising.
“The governor (Tom Wolf) made it very clear last week that the state is going in the wrong direction,” Minor said. “At some point, it was going to happen somewhere (in Berks County). It was bound to happen. Of course, I wish Exeter High hadn’t been the first, but we are.”
Minor said she and Legath are in frequent communication and that she believes Exeter teams are following all the protocols and guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Tom Legath wrote a really strong athletic reopening plan,” she said. “He has been extremely vigilant about his coaches following that plan. We’ve followed all the social distancing guidelines. I’m completely sure of that.
“I can’t control what happens outside school, but I am completely confident in our coaches, our athletic director and our plan. Everybody is taking this incredibly seriously. We all want kids to be safe and for coaches to be safe.
“We want athletics to happen. We all recognize the only way to get to that point is to follow our plan and the directives and guidance of the (Pennsylvania) Department of Health.”
The PIAA Board of Control has scheduled a meeting for July 29 to further discuss plans for fall sports. PIAA schools with football teams are expected to begin heat acclimatization on Aug. 10, followed by the start of all senior high fall practices Aug. 17 and junior high practices on Aug. 24.