Three student athletes and one adult at Fayette high schools test positive for COVID-19

Since on-campus conditioning began June 29, three student athletes and one adult in Fayette County Public Schools reported that they have tested positive for COVID-19, district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said Wednesday night.

The teams impacted include volleyball and soccer at Lafayette High School and football and cheerleading at Frederick Douglass High School. Deffendall said those who tested positive reported only mild symptoms and are recuperating at home.

In accordance with district procedures, all four cases prompted an immediate suspension of conditioning at the school to allow for an additional deep cleaning of the campus, Deffendall said. Some students and adults have been quarantined.

Since Fayette County Public Schools resumed on-campus conditioning on June 29, more than 7,000 student athletes have participated in workouts across the district’s six high schools, she said.

In each positive case, school and district staff strictly followed the Fayette County Return to Athletics Guidelines, which outlines the response to a positive case.

Steps include contact tracing, notification, quarantine requirements and deep cleaning.

Having specific guidelines and clear safety expectations that include limiting the number of students who participate at the same time has been essential to curtailing possible spread, she said. The district’s guidelines mandate that teams be divided into small groups, or “pods” of 10 or fewer so that if a student testes positive, officials can place the pod on quarantine rather than the entire team.

Deffendall said that is exactly what happened in the situations involving the Lafayette volleyball team and Douglass football team, which each resulted in fewer than 10 students and adults having to quarantine for 14 days, while the rest of the team and coaches can continue with practice.

In the case of the Douglass cheer team, the adult who tested positive and their pod will quarantine for 14 days, but practice for the rest of the team has been suspended because the other coaches are out of town. In the case of the Lafayette soccer player, school officials were made aware that members of the team had participated in a sleepover that involved students from different pods, which prompted the district to suspend practice and place a larger portion of the entire team on quarantine.

A task force of district leaders, school principals, athletic directors, athletic trainers and coaches developed the detailed plans, protocols and safety procedures that are aligned with guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Kentucky’s Governor’s Office and meet both Kentucky High School Athletic Association and Lexington-Fayette County Health Department recommendations to minimize risk for students, staff and families.

Those same guidelines apply to bands.

With the revision to KHSAA guidelines on July 10, she said the school district has suspended all workouts for non-fall sports after July 17.

Kevin Hall, a spokesman for the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department said Wednesday night that “we are aware of a case on the soccer team at Lafayette High School. We do not know how long their workouts are suspended, but the team is being quarantined.”

“There’s a case on the volleyball team at Lafayette, and players are being quarantined. There’s a case on the football team at Frederick Douglass High School, and players are being quarantined.”

Deffendall said measures the district has taken include adding signs for designated work-out areas around campus, and for drop off and pick up points to avoid congregation of students and families before, during, and after practice sessions.

The district is adding outdoor sanitizing stations, working with Kentucky American Water to get individual water bottles for each athlete, ensuring an adequate inventory of face shields, masks and no touch thermometers, training coaches and developing practice schedules to ensure adequate space for teams and social distancing guidelines.

She said families are expected to make sure each child is healthy and check their child’s temperature daily, provide a full water bottle for each training, not carpool with other teammates, and adhere to social distance requirements based on state and local health guidelines. Families can’t enter the practice area or assist the coach/director with equipment before or after training .

They must wash the child’s clothing after every training session, sanitize all equipment and instruments before and after every training, notify the coach/director immediately if a child becomes ill for any reason and be sure the child has necessary sanitizer with them at all times.

Athletes have to follow several health, cleaning and safety regulations, including wearing a mask before and immediately after all training and refraining from group celebrations, including high fives, hugs, and handshakes.

Fayette district officials have not yet announced when school will start in the fall.

Conditioning has also been suspended for several days at other Kentucky high schools after student athletes and coaches tested positive for the coronavirus.