The director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Dr. Rochelle Walensky, blamed the return of youth sports for an increase in coronavirus cases across the country.
“We are learning that many outbreaks in young people are related to youth sports and extracurricular activities,” said Walensky at a meeting at the White House on Monday, the New York Post reported.
“This is true among 18- to 24-year-olds where we are really seeing some spikes in cases,” added Walensky. “Cases are increasing nationally, and we are seeing this predominantly in younger adults.”
Walensky also said that the CDC is still advising youth sports to be “limited” in the face of the pandemic, but if states and school systems ignore that advice, more outbreaks will occur.
“The last daily average of new cases in the United States last week is 4,970, she said – an increase of 3 percent from the daily average over the previous seven-day period,” she said. Publish reported.
Walensky also said that once the vaccines reach the age of sixteen, this will be a big change for youth sports.
Still, despite Walensky’s claims, a February study showed very little evidence that youth sports contributed to any coronavirus outbreak.
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health published a study in February tracking the health of 30,704 high school athletes who played sports during the previous fall, which revealed how useless a sports block seemed to be.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.