UPDATE – Principal Caudle has sent an email to families and staff advising of six COVID-19 cases and the cancellation of all practices and games until the return from winter break. Individuals who are fully vaccinated and symptom free do not have to quarantine. The official COVID19 positive cases as the district dashboard does not reflect the current number and whether another email last Friday indicated  six cases would bring the number to 12.

ORIGINAL STORY 

The Washington State Department of Health earlier today announced updated health and safety requirements for high risk high school sports to include basketball, wrestling and competitive cheer. This comes on the heals of an estimated 200 COVID-19 cases linked to a series of wrestling tournaments.

No Lindbergh wrestlers attended any of the tournaments of concern. However with the new DOH requirements, the KingCo League called for an emergency meeting around noon and an hour later all basketball and wrestling events were cancelled including tonight’s match-up against Renton. The tailgate was also cancelled.

The new guidelines as announced in a press release indicated:

All indoor, high-contact sports and activities (basketball, wrestling, water polo, and competitive cheer), effective immediately:

• Required testing of all athletes, coaches, trainers, and support personnel, regardless of vaccination status.
• Increased testing frequency to three times per week. Among those screening tests, at least one must occur no sooner than the day before the competition; ideally, and whenever possible, the day of the event.

In addition, DOH wants to remind people of existing requirements for all K-12 sporting events that help keep athletes, staff, and families safer when attending these events:

• All indoor event spectators must wear masks and should distance from other families or households to the degree possible.
• Mask wearing is required among all athletes, coaches, trainers, and support personnel in indoor public spaces except when actively competing.
• Referees must wear masks except when actively officiated and running.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Associate made no comment via social media about the new guidelines.

“Omicron is a game-changer, but we know layered prevention measures slow the spread of COVID-19 in sports, schools, and communities.” said Lacy Fehrenbach, Deputy Secretary for the COVID-19 response. “Please get vaccinated, boosted, wear a well-fitting mask, and maintain your distance to help our kids stay healthy, stay in the game, and stay in school.”

“Vaccinations, in addition to testing and masking, will help keep our athletes healthy and allow everyone to continue to enjoy sporting events while also limiting the spread of disease,” said Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, Chief Science Officer. “Getting a booster will make protection against the omicron variant even stronger. The booster vaccine is now available for everyone 16 years and older.”

The latest COVID-19 dashboard for the Renton School District shows 4 current positive cases at LHS. This does not include positive cases indicated Friday. So far all cases have been related to community spread and no campus spread. The dashboard shows 400 total cases since September 1, 2021.