Student Athlete At Broad Run Tests Positive For Coronavirus

ASHBURN, VA — A student athlete at Broad Run High School in Ashburn has tested positive for the coronavirus and is currently self-isolating, according to Loudoun County Public Schools. The student was last at Broad Run High School last Saturday.

The Loudoun County Public Schools system has established protocols for student athletes who participate in LCPS-sponsored summer programs, which are intended to mitigate the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, county schools Superintendent Eric Williams said in an email to the Broad Run High School community Thursday afternoon.

When provided a report of an LCPS student or employee testing positive for the coronavirus, the Loudoun County Health Department determines the need and extent of a contact investigation based on Virginia Department of Health policies. When the LCHD conducts contact investigations, its practice is to reach out to all “close contacts” of people who have tested positive

The VDH defines close contacts as people who have been within 6 feet of a person who tests positive for the virus, for 15 minutes or more, starting from 48 hours before symptom onset.

The Virginia High School League, the governing body of high school sports in Virginia, said it will decide the fate of the 2020 fall sports season on July 27. Among the changes expected to high school sports in Loudoun County and elsewhere in Virginia due to the coronavirus are no high school football and no field hockey this fall.

The VHSL's executive committee voted Wednesday to choose from three models for protecting athletes, coaches and staff from the coronavirus. The models under consideration by the VHSL are:

Model 1 – The low- and moderate-contact-risk sports that would be allowed to play this fall are golf and cross-country. The high-risk sports that would not be played are field hockey, football, volleyball and cheerleading. These high-risk sports would resume in fall 2021.

Model 2 – Switch fall and spring seasons. Thge low- and moderate-contact-risk sports that would be allowed to play in the fall are track and field, tennis, soccer, baseball and softball. The high-risk sports that would not be played are boys and girls lacrosse.

Model 3 – Delay all VHSL sports and adopt the Condensed Interscholastic Plan. Leave all sports in the season where they are currently aligned. Under this model, each sports season would be shrunk to about 60 percent of its traditional length.