Correction: Only the two third and fourth grade teams that played on Oct. 6 have games postponed for the next two weeks.
Every organization expects a COVID-19 case to pop-up now and again.
Mahomet Parks and Recreation (MPRD) is no different.
On Thursday, parents with children playing on two third-and-fourth-grade MPRD flag football teams received a notice that their child had been exposed to a positive case of COVID-19.
MPRD Director Dan Waldinger said that the child went through symptom checks prior to the Oct. 6 game, like all participants in MPRD programming do.
The child played in the game with 18 other participants that night, then, at some point after the game, began to experience symptoms related to COVID-19. MPRD was notified within 24 hours of the game ending that the child had tested positive.
“We took immediate action,” Waldinger said.
Since IDPH provided guidelines for youth sports in July, MPRD has hosted nearly 600 participants in youth soccer and flag football. Soccer programming saw a slight decline in participation, but Waldinger said flag football registrations were up.
Waldinger also said that MPRD did not have any positive COVID-19 case reports throughout the soccer season.
One child tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the beginning of flag football, but that child had not practiced with his team yet; only rosters were out at that time. MPRD notified the child’s teammates out of an abundance of caution and canceled that team’s game the first week.
Because the child who tested positive after the Oct. 6 game had played in the game, MPRD has postponed flag football for the two affected teams over the next two weeks to make sure athletes are not exposed.
“We know what we can do to protect everyone’s safety, and that’s what we are doing,” Waldinger said.
Waldinger said that Program Coordinator Denise Reynolds has done a great job setting up protocol and procedures for positive cases among MPRD participants. He added that MPRD has a commitment to transparency as they navigate the pandemic and the demand for recreation activities.
“It’s probably the most challenging thing that we’ve been asked to do,” Waldinger said. “It’s a whole new way of thinking about programming. You’re really redesigning a program. You have to start over and rethink it from start to finish with a different lens while keeping some sense of normalcy to make the program successful.
“It’s a balancing act for sure.”
The children exposed on the Oct. 6 game were reflected on the Mahomet-Seymour School District’s COVID-19 dashboard. The district reported 15 exposures on Oct. 8, the same day MPRD sent an email to parents, but the positive case was not added.
Mahomet-Seymour District Nurse Nita Bachman explained that only students who are attending school or teaching in-person are reflected on the COVID-19 dashboard.
Last week Bachman learned that there were positive cases among the remote student body that had not been relayed to the district.
“The staff/contact tracers in Champaign at the public health office do not know every District’s individual make up and demographic, so (they) go by what parents report to them,” she said. “If parents say they aren’t ‘going to school or are remote, the contract tracers didn’t realize that they are still a part of our school community, and thus not sharing the information with the school liaison, who would report positive cases to me.
“I am heavily reliant on both our community and C-UPHD to provide information to me, not only so I can share accurate information to our community on the Dashboard, but also, as stated above, to implement mitigation strategies in an effort to keep our students and staff as safe as possible.”
The Mahomet-Seymour School District also reported one positive case of COVID-19 on Oct. 2. Two exposures were also reported with the positive case.
The district also reported four exposures on Oct. 6 and 15 on October 8. In total, Mahomet-Seymour has reported 10 positive cases of COVID-19 since Aug. 19 and 126 exposures on the district’s dashboard.
Bachman said that the information being uploaded to the dashboard is coming from the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department. The Mahomet Daily reached out to CUPHD for additional clarification, and has not heard back.
Both the Mahomet Parks and Recreation Department and the Mahomet-Seymour School District said parents can call or email with any questions or concerns.
