More than 20 people who participated in a wrestling tournament at a two-day college in Louisiana reported positive tests for coronavirus, according to local health officials.
The surge among athletes, staff and members of the public comes after about 400 fighters participated in the 48th Louisiana Classic wrestling event last week at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center, The Advocate reported.
The Louisiana Department of Health is now asking all participants to take the test and self-quarantine – but that is not preventing some schools from moving forward with other sporting events.
The Louisiana High School Athletic Association said schools are being asked to take precautions, but said several wrestling matches will happen as scheduled, the lawyer said.
“Obviously, this is extremely complicated,” the association’s assistant executive director, Adam MacDowell, told the newspaper. “As soon as I receive documents from (Louisiana Department of Health), I will send them to member schools for further guidance.”
“What we are advising at the moment, without having additional communication with LDH, is that each individual school and school program should contact its local regional health director and review the protocols if they participated in this tournament,” said MacDowell.
“I know that there are a number of meetings and tournaments that have been canceled,” he said. “But I also know that some are still at stake.”
Images and videos from the Louisiana Classic show that no social distance was being observed, and while some viewers wore masks, many did not.