Santa Paula High School cancels football game due to COVID outbreak
A Ventura County school was forced to cancel their upcoming football match due to a coronavirus outbreak that has left more than a dozen of their players experiencing symptoms.
Santa Paula High School, who was set to face off against La Cañada High School on Friday, has instead opted to forego the contest due to the rapidly spreading sickness, which has thus far resulted in at least 20 positive cases within the football and cheerleading teams.
With so many players forced off the field, SPHS coaches likely had a hard time fielding a solid team on either side of the game, just part of the reason that school officials opted to cancel their pre-league matchup.
The team is currently 3-0 in the Citrus Coast standings, and though the cancelation might end up being a momentum breaker, the student body understands the steps that need to be taken.
"Canceled because of COVID, it's going around the team," said Isiah Panis, an SPHS student. "Stopping things before it gets worse."
Though students got the memo, used to having their lives impacted by COVID-19 for the last four years, parents are frustrated that their children are being forced to miss yet another big moment.
"She couldn't go to the movies. Couldn't do nothing; locked down with a Chromebook," said Justin Tatum, a parent of one SPHS student. "It was horrible. Totally affected her life."
According to Ventura County Health Officer Dr. Robert Levin, SPHS isn't the only school being hit by COVID's resurgence.
"We've had two high schools that have had to cancel football games," Levin said. Nordoff High School in Ojai had to make a similar decision earlier this season due to a similar outbreak.
He says that their region isn't exempt from the massive uptick in cases over the last month, noting that reported positive cases have jumped from 6% to about 15%, a number that he assumes is even higher due to the lack of reporting from at-home testers.
Similar increases in positive cases have been seen all over the United States, with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reporting a similar jump from 4% to 16% in just one week.