Youth sports cited as one of major factors in COVID-19 spike in Adams County, IL

[The Man In Blue]

We have family in Quincy and have visited in recent months. The town had very few cases and was suffering economically during the lockdown, not happily. They opened early and hard, it was shocking to see the lack of mask-wearing in stores, etc. and youth sports were playing full-on games the first chance they could get and didn't see a single person watching wearing a mask. My wife was very worried about her hometown. I hope they can keep it tamped down, the number still aren't large but with school starting and numbers growing it could be a problem. They border Missouri and Iowa, which also have had issues, but the town doesn't have the type of ag/meatpacking sites that seem to have had issues in the past.

Sidenote, I have never run into a travel fastpitch team out of Quincy ever. It's a rec ball and high school ball town. I found that strange, it's a good sized community and there are teams in Springfield, 2 hours away.

I've encountered a couple from over that way, mostly here in Springfield. It surprises me that those teams have all told me there isn't much over there for tournaments, etc. I know it is mostly a rural area, but being a tri-state hub provides some drawing power. (Of course, being so far off any major highway hurts.)

The ACES (Adams County Elite Softball) is one program over there. I forget the name of the other one (it may be defunct already, I only saw them a time or two). There are also the Kats out of the Macomb/McDonough County area.

Once you get over to Brown County, you start running into serious Little League territory. Some of those teams have started to venture into USA/USSSA a little bit, but not significantly.

Since I left my previous position, I haven't had any contacts over that way. I will say Quincy is a very partisan-driven town for its size and being out in the middle of nowhere. Even their City Council is a partisan election, which is pretty rare in Illinois.

On the plus side ... they have an amazing arts culture for a city of their size (and location)!

 

[The Man In Blue]

This is the 2nd state to blame youth sports and neither one has been able to produce any contact tracing data when ask. I'm thinking youth sports is being used as a scape goat....especially the outdoor ones. The only youth sports spread I've heard in my area has been spread from families that just returned from vacation....let's talk about vacation spread.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

That is why I have been trying to be careful about how I worded this, @ang2bmd . I would like to see something (media report, etc.) that is tying it to an event.

However, in this case I think there has to be a specific reason, not just general scapegoating. The IDPH provided a list of the reasons each of the four counties are being upgraded to "warning" levels. Each list was different and only Adams County had youth sports listed. If it was a general scapegoat, it either would have been on all four lists OR there would have only been one list.

@RichK 's post above reinforces my thought that it wasn't ONE event (I know they don't have many -- any? -- tournaments there, at least not for softball) but rather the general activity occurring night after night in multiple parks.

Where was the other example you cited?

 

[The Man In Blue]

After the governor in ca. said school districts need to make their own decisions on how to get schools going again. And some districts/schools wanted in class. Then the gov. pulled his string and said no in classroom until...
Now.... districts/counties are talking/planning opening using libraries to
'HELP the kids who cant do home schooling'
Calling it daycare...but not utilizing schools...
Clarifys how things are classified matters.

Btw you can uber or lyft with a stranger in the same car...if you want to.

Trying to keep this thread softball/sports oriented .... but you hit on a key issue Rad.

Nobody (politicians, businesses, etc.) wants to be "the guy who ..." so they are constantly making recommendations (or threats) but retreating to "people will make the right decision". Until people don't. I think we have proven that.

IHSA is being sued right now by an ambulance-chaser who is suing everybody under the sun in Illinois. His clients say IHSA has no right to mandate HOW they participate in IHSA sports (hint: they kind of do). IHSA is, of course, saying they only provide guidelines for member schools and it is up to the schools what they do with them. (Until later this week when we all expect IHSA to just pull the plug.)

Last week a school in Lake Zurich had 36 athletes test positive after running sports camps. Those were just the initial positives that came forward. They have tested all 370-some athletes now and are waiting for results (so expect that number to go higher). That may have just forced the IHSA's hand.

 

[Lance Steckler]

id like to see actual proof that the athletes had any symptoms pre- versus post event. and how many of these are false positive tests?

 

[The Man In Blue]

Again, a valid point @Lance Steckler . Testing is erratic with both false-positives and false-negatives. Somebody (sorry, I forget who) also brought up the question of why the initial 36 got tested in the first place.

But don't let the trees block out the forest ... at this point in the battle it isn't about proving where somebody got it ... it was the fact that they were at a mass-gathering and tested positive. It is also important to note it was a school function with children which dampens the theory that children can't get/spread COVID-19. Whether they got it there or had it there already, it created more spread. If we can't control spread, we are losing.

(Please don't tell me you are going to take the tact that my wife's employer took and try claiming multiple infections within a tight-knit group all occurred independently and remotely from the common factor.)

Who cares if somebody is infected a tournament or camp? It is just one person! Until it isn't.

I have to say I am still shocked at the reaction to the tournament in Utah. People thought they were protected by ignorance. Why would you think going to a large event like that would be safe? But nobody batted an eye until somebody "tested positive" (which, as you allude to is reported to have been a false positive), and then people were jumping all over that kid and her parents.

 

[Sweet Lou]

It's not just youth sports. The Miami Marlins just has 12 players and 2 coaches test positive in the past 2 days. And in probably the most 2020 part of the story they decoded as a team by group text chat to play against the Phillies yesterday . ->

The Marlins learned Sunday morning that their starting pitcher for the afternoon and two other players had tested positive for COVID-19 and would be unable to play. An apparent coronavirus outbreak was underway in the visiting clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park and the Marlins responded by asking their shortstop to determine if the game against the Phillies would be played.

“He’s kind of an unofficial team captain of our club,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Miguel Rojas. “He’s always texting the group and getting the feelings of the group. So when we’re dealing with situations or things, that’s usually who we’re working through.”

Major League Baseball issued a 113-page operations manual to all club employees before the start of the season. It outlines everything from on-field rules to testing procedures and what happens if a player tests positive. But Sunday afternoon, the status of the game amid a coronavirus outbreak was decided by a group text-message between Marlins players.

“We made the decision that we’re going to continue to do this and we’re going to continue to be responsible and just play the game as hard as we can,” Rojas said.

 

[Cougars]

It would also be very 2020 to have a team that's basically a bunch of minor leaguers be the downfall of the season being played.

Although, it seems inevitable that outbreaks like this will keep happening. I would guess that if any of us had jobs where mandatory testing was done daily or weekly, we would have a few similar stories to the Marlins.

 

[The Man In Blue]

“We made the decision that we’re going to continue to do this and we’re going to continue to be responsible and just play the game as hard as we can,” Rojas said.

Sorry, lost me at that part.

 

[sluggers]

The Marlins outbreak is not pretty. Just a few days into the season, and there is a major outbreak. I don't see how football can be played this year.

Miami Marlins' coronavirus outbreak pushes MLB to postpone three games | CNN

A number of players and coaches on the Miami Marlins tested positive for Covid-19, pushing Major League Baseball to postpone three games and raising questions about its plans to hold a season amid a pandemic.

www.cnn.com

 

[_MIA_]

The Marlins outbreak is not pretty. Just a few days into the season, and there is a major outbreak. I don't see how football can be played this year.

Miami Marlins' coronavirus outbreak pushes MLB to postpone three games | CNN

A number of players and coaches on the Miami Marlins tested positive for Covid-19, pushing Major League Baseball to postpone three games and raising questions about its plans to hold a season amid a pandemic.

www.cnn.com

It will be interesting to see if anybody on the Phillies contracts it after playing them..of course those guys congregate (or they used to before) a lot more before games then typical TB teams playing each other...plus the games are like 4 hours long..