No Masks Required For Low-Risk Outdoor Sports: IDPH

ILLINOIS — As practices got underway for a number of high school sports last week in the state, new guidance from the Illinois Department of Health is not requiring athletes in low-risk outdoor sports to wear masks while competing. Following a Monday meeting of its board of directors, the Illinois High School Association announced it will follow the new rules for bass fishing, baseball, softball, tennis and track and field.

Students must continue to wear masks in these sports and activities when they are not actively competing (i.e. athletes on the bench), according to the IHSA. Officials in these sports and activities must continue to wear masks unless they are socially distanced. The IHSA said more guidance will be provided to the coaches and officials in these respective sports this week.

Meanwhile, in nearby Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is asking high schools to consider pausing in-person learning and postpone youth sports for the next two weeks in response to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Gov. J.B. Pritzker was asked Wednesday about Michigan and why he hasn’t imposed similar mitigations in the state as coronavirus cases are also increasing in Illinois, as reported by Capitol Fax.

"I don’t think we’re past that point. But let me back up. Let me also just mention that I had a number of conversations with folks in Michigan, including the governor, over the last week. And they’re seeing very, very challenging times. It is related to most particularly school sports," Pritzker said. "They’ve seen an uptick, not just uptick, but outbreaks as a result of some school sports and other activities that are going on, things that we’ve talked about here for some time."

The IDPH reported Wednesday 3,536 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus in Illinois, including 31 additional deaths.

REQUIRED COVID-19 TESTING FOR HIGH-RISK SPORTS

The IHSA Board also announced that it is following IDPH recommendations pertaining to coronavirus testing for student-athletes in high-risk sports. The State of Illinois will fund optional testing for any school teams who wish to test their high-risk sports teams, according to the IHSA. Current high-risk IHSA sports include football, boys lacrosse, and wrestling. The IHSA will provide member schools with state testing contacts when that information is available from IDPH.

An updated version of the IDPH All-Sports Policy reflecting the new changes can be found here: IDPH All-Sports Policy.

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