Kelly Hayes
Newsome and Durant high schools quarantined football players following a game against each other Friday.
The district has decided to postpone the upcoming games for the schools, as neither has enough players to participate, according to a Fox 13 news report.
A spokesperson for Hillsborough County Schools told the station that she was unable to release information including if a student-athlete had tested positive for COVID-19.
Newsome High School has reported the most student cases in a single school across the county, with nine confirmed positive students — all reported within the past week, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.
Durant only reported one student case on Sept. 9
At least four high schools in the county have now been affected by quarantines connected to football, according to Fox 13.
The Hillsborough County School District is continuing to see a steady rise in coronavirus cases.
Since the start of the week, the district has reported 42 new cases, including 11 employees and 39 students.
The new cases bring the district’s total reported cases to 146 since schools opened Aug. 31, with 105 students and 41 employees reported positive. Last Wednesday, the county recorded 15 student cases, the highest number reported in one day (originally the dashboard reported only 10, but was later updated.)
Individuals in contact with a confirmed case on campus must be quarantined, required to stay home for 14 days. However, the Hillsborough County School District has yet to release quarantine information publicly, despite neighboring Pasco and Pinellas counties recording these numbers. Pasco releases the total number of students and employees quarantined while Pinellas reports only classrooms affected.
The report of the quarantined football players has been one of the first public confirmation of quarantines, although even now much remains unknown.
Students and employees listed in the dashboard since reopening have each been on campus, except for four students listed on the Aug. 31 report who were not on campus, because it was the first day of school. The dashboard is updated automatically every hour from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.
The district’s COVID-19 dashboard looks a little different this week. The graph showing new cases moved the most recent updates from the right side to the left.
