38 people test positive for COVID-19 following Ky. high school football team outbreak

A COVID-19 outbreak among Hazard Independent High School football players had spread by Monday to 38 people, including 18 football players, three coaches and 17 of their family members and close contacts who have tested positive.

Scott Lockard, the director of the Kentucky River District Health Department in Hazard who provided the numbers to the Herald-Leader, said all 38 have been recovering at home.

Lockard had reported on July 11 that the southeastern Kentucky school had suspended athletic team workouts as nine players and a coach tested positive for COVID-19 in a cluster.

With the increase in cases, he said Monday that athletic workouts, practices and training at the school have now been suspended indefinitely. A weight room at the high school was considered to be the common denominator.

“The outbreak is related, we feel like is related, to out-of -state travel,” Lockard said.

On Monday night, Lockard clarified that the first student reported to the health department as testing positive and his family had not traveled out of state as Lockard had said earlier in the day.

“But he was exposed to other individuals associated with the team who had traveled out of state and have tested positive for COVID-19,” Lockard said.

Lockard did not identify the other state.

He said the high school weight room “we think was a big part of the transmission between the students.”

Lockard said the health department would work with the school to determine when it was safe to resume workouts.

Last week, Hazard Independent Superintendent Sondra Combs said the district school reopening date was going to be delayed to August 24, noting “the rising number of positive cases and some anxiety of our families.”

Lockard said he could not confirm that Hazard Independent was the Kentucky school that Gov. Andy Beshear mentioned during a Friday news conference as having 36 positive COVID-19 cases as of Friday and being an example of “community impact.”

Beshear would not identify that school where he said masks were not being worn inside a weight room. He noted that 18 players and three coaches had tested positive and as of Friday, 15 others.

“This is just one example of why wearing a mask is absolutely critical,” Beshear said. “Let’s just take this as another lesson that we’re living in really dangerous times.”

“It says that we need to be nervous right now about sports,” he said.

The case associated with a high school athletic team comes as school districts across the state, including Fayette, are trying to decide how and when to reopen schools which shut down in-person learning in March as the coronavirus spread.

On Sunday, Beshear announced the largest single day increase in COVID-19 cases at 979. Lexington health officials on Monday announced a spike in cases of children under 18.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to note that on Monday night, Lockard clarified that the first student reported to the health department as testing positive and his family had not traveled out of state as Lockard had said earlier in the day, and as was reported in an earlier version.

This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 1:31 PM with the headline "38 people test positive for COVID-19 following Ky. high school football team outbreak."