St. Louis County Football in Jeopardy After Latest Public Health Recommendations

(St. Louis, Mo.) A news release yesterday from the St. Louis County Department of Public Health has put the possibility of playing football in St. Louis County in serious jeopardy.

The release says, “St. Louis County is currently experiencing a sustained increase in COVID-19 cases that is a result of community transmission. This trend has been rising for several weeks, and epidemiological signs point to the level of transmission continuing to either increase or remain high for several more weeks…Given the fact that most St. Louis County schools begin their school year in a few weeks, it is unlikely that the spread of the virus will be sufficiently controlled in order for nearly 300,000 children and 25,000 teachers, in addition to thousands of other adult staff members, to attend school full-time without the risk of significant outbreaks. Therefore, it is the formal recommendation of the Department of Public Health that all schools start the semester in as virtual of an environment as possible to protect students, staff, and families. While this is a recommendation and not a mandate, the Department of Public Health may take further action to close schools or buildings that have outbreaks that further risk the health of residents.”

MSHSAA’s latest guidelines indicate that if a school is only offering virtual education, either temporarily or for the semester/year, the school is not allowed to offer sports and activities during that period.