BOSTON (AP) - There likely won’t be any high school football in Massachusetts this fall, although other sports will probably be played and there is hope that football can be played later in the school year, officials said Wednesday.
The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Board of Directors approved a recommendation from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to allow low and moderate-risk sports to play with modifications during the fall season.
Those sports, including golf, cross country, field hockey, soccer, gymnastics and volleyball would begin practices starting Sept. 18.
So-called higher-risk sports - including football - would play during a “floating season” that would start in late February and run into April.
Sports will be played based on coronavirus risks and are subject to state office of Environmental and Energy Affairs guidelines.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in a statement Tuesday said sports play an important role in education.
“Organized physical activity should be encouraged, within clear health and safety parameters,” the agency said. “Most sports can be played in ways that minimize those risks. In many cases, that will mean that interscholastic competitions may not look the same and may need to be played under fairly stringent restrictions with modified rules.”
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VIRUS BY THE NUMBERS
Massachusetts reported 28 newly confirmed coronavirus deaths and more than 260 newly confirmed cases on Wednesday, pushing the state’s confirmed COVID-19 death toll to more than 8,640 and its confirmed caseload past 115,000.
State public health officials said the seven-day weighted average of positive tests was about 1.4%.
The state on Wednesday also reported more than 560 probable cases of COVID-19 in the past week, bringing the total number of probable cases to nearly 9,370. The state also reported an additional nine probable deaths, bringing the total number of probable COVID-19 deaths to more than 230.
The true number of cases is likely higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected and not feel sick.
There were more than 360 people reported hospitalized Wednesday because of COVID-19, while more than 60 were in intensive care units.
The number of confirmed and probable COVID-19 related deaths at long-term care homes rose to more than 5,680 or about 64% of all confirmed and probable deaths in Massachusetts attributed to the disease.
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FALSE POSITIVE-EXPLANATION
A broken vial or contaminated tray holding coronavirus specimens may have been responsible for more than 100 false positives reported last week affecting two Massachusetts cities, but the exact cause remains under investigation, state Department of Public Health officials say.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said Tuesday the results came from one lab over a three-day period. There were more than 900 tests processed at the lab, which yielded 169 false positives in Fall River and Taunton, Sudders said.
“While the lab has initially reported to DPH that the error resulted from a broken vial or contaminated plate during processing, the final determination will be based upon the outcome of the ongoing investigation by DPH,” department spokesperson Ann Scales told Masslive.com. “The lab has ceased processing during this period.”
Following the false positive results, the coronavirus risk level was elevated in Fall River.
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