Agoura Girls Soccer Quarantining After 3 COVID Cases

AGOURA HILLS, CA —The Agoura High School girls soccer team ends a ten-day quarantine on Friday that occurred because three players tested positive for COVID-19.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health considers three or more positive cases to be an “outbreak,” according to Las Virgenes District Nurse Melissa Foster. The school is reporting that three students and one staff member have tested positive.

Anyone who tests positive is required to quarantine for at least ten days from the onset of symptoms. Through contact tracing, the school identified all the people with whom the players may have come into contact, and asked them all to quarantine out of an abundance of caution.

AHS Principal Dr. Stephanie McClay sent an email to parents confirming that four people on campus have tested positive and are in quarantine, though tracing efforts determined that transmission did not occur on the school’s campus.

“LA County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) defines an outbreak as three or more cases within an epidemiologically linked group, such as a sports team, and this requires that this be reported to public health,” McClay wrote. “Since that time, representatives from LACDPH visited our campus and found no deficiencies. Outside of increasing signage, they affirmed our comprehensive practices, protocols, and implementation.”

LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer mentioned Agoura Hills during a Monday briefing when discussing how youth sports present a transmission challenge. Ferrer said that the county’s five COVID outbreaks involving schools - three in Santa Clarita and one each in Agoura Hills and Redondo Beach - are associated with youth sports participation, not through attending instruction at school.

Las Virgenes requires all students to register through a health screening app each morning that is checked when they arrive at school. Thermal scanners also take student temperatures inside the building. The district also requires anyone who tests positive to remain in quarantine for at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms, and 24 hours after without fever. Anyone who has been in close contact with the person who tested positive, defined as closer than six feet for more than 15 minutes starting from 48 hours before the person began feeling sick, must quarantine for 10 days following the most recent exposure.

According to a COVID-19 dashboard posted by the district, most district schools have not reported any confirmed cases, although it notes it is only listing cases reported directly by the family or staff to Las Virgenes health staff. Calabasas High School reports four confirmed cases (two students, two staff members) since April 16, but no cases are currently confirmed. The only other currently confirmed case in the district is at AE Wright Middle School in Calabasas. Lindero Canyon Middle School has not reported any cases since April 16. Yerba Buena Elementary has seen two students and two staff cases since April 16, but do not report any current cases. Sumac Elementary reports two staff cases since April 16, but no current cases.

As of Tuesday, the city of Agoura Hills is reporting 1030 total cases and 18 total deaths since the start of the pandemic.