The Peru Gazette

Plattsburgh, March 5, 2021. On February 15, 2021 many area schools were eligible to hold their first high-risk sports practices of the season. Working with Clinton County School Superintendents and Section VII officials, sport-specific Preparedness Plans were created and approved by local school boards and district medical directors.

“We asked our districts to return to in-person instruction for at least two weeks before initiating high-risk sports seasons,” stated John Kanoza, Director of Public Health in Clinton County. Included in the guidance for a return to high-risk sports, was the need to monitor infection rates, hospitalization rates, case patterns and evidence of new virus variants in Clinton County. “We have been offering a phased approach to, first, get kids back in school and, second, let the kids play these sports.”

Presently, these plans do not include spectators at indoor sports contests. “Though we continue to see our community cases decline, the number of COVID positive patients at CVPH is higher than we would like it to be,” explained Mr. Kanoza. “Additionally, we continue to see a high number of K-12 school-related cases each week. These numbers do not allow us to consider phasing-in spectators at high-risk sports at this time.”

Section VII athletics has also issued their Guidelines for Indoor “High-Risk” Sports for the Winter and Fall Season II 2021. Those guidelines also do not allow spectators at this time.

“Working with the local schools and Section VII officials we are all on the same page right now. Let the kids play, safely, and continue to monitor COVID-19 related factors moving forward,” added Mr. Kanoza. “I am hoping that general community cases will continue to decrease, including fewer school-related cases and fewer COVID positive patients at CVPH, and that we can all return to some sort of normalcy in the upcoming months.”