MAYFIELD, Ohio — The start of the Mayfield High School football season has been put on hold after two players tested positive for COVID-19.
In a release sent out on Wednesday, Mayfield City Schools confirmed the positive result for the two players that came from diagnostic nasal testing.
"Per the recommendation of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, the Mayfield football season for Freshmen, Junior Varsity and Varsity teams has been suspended from play and practice, until further notice," the release states.
Mayfield Athletic Director Keith Leffler will communicate with football players and families with additional information as it becomes available.
The Wildcats were set to open the season on Friday evening against Kenston.
The positive test from Mayfield is the third one among high school football teams in Cuyahoga County. Earlier this week, Strongsville revealed that a student athlete had received a positive coronavirus result. Last week, North Olmsted announced that one of its team members had tested positive for COVID-19. The Eagles were forced to cancel their Week 1 game and are not scheduled to resume practice until September 1.
In addition, several members of the Mayfield High School volleyball team have tested positive for coronavirus. Both Mayfield and Kirtland have stopped practices and games until further notice. Kirtland played Mayfield in a recent scrimmage.
The Cuyahoga County Board of Health has been working with schools to address the cases – specifically looking at tracking close contact.
"It’s not so much of us saying that this whole team has to sit out, it’s the close-contacts have to. It just so happens with some sports that means every student, every athlete," says Suzanne Hrusch with Cuyahoga County Board of Health.
Governor Mike DeWine gave the green light for fall sports to move forward while the Cuyhaoga County Board of Health had recommended remote learning and no sports to start the school year. Hrusch says stopping community spread means looking at every point of contact, beyond the games and practices.
"It’s what about the parties they went to, what about the family events or religious activities or the other extracurriculars? It can be a little tricky with contact tracing. We have a lot of dedicated folks working on contact tracing to try and solve these cases and stomp them where they’re at," she adds.
Click here for more information from the Cuyahoga County Board of Health.
