State Blaming COVID “Outbreak” on 4 HS Wrestling Tournaments

No word as how this will impact any winter sports going forward, namely Wrestling, in WA state.

  DOH BLAMES OUTBREAK OF CASES ON WRESTLING TOURNAMENTS

The Department of Health released information Wednesday, Dec. 15th, saying they "traced" an outbreak of COVID cases back to four specific multi-school wrestling tournaments that occurred the weekend of December 4th.

The DOH did NOT conclusively say they could prove these were the culprit for an 'outbreak' of 80-90 cases, but is blaming the events.

The four tournaments were:

• John Birbeck Invitational in Lacey, WA
• Ed Arima Duals in Sumner, WA
• Lady Jags Kickoff Tournament in Puyallup, WA
• Yelm Girls Varsity in Yelm, WA

The WIAA says high schools from the following counties had schools participating:

"Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Skagit, Snohomish, Pierce, Thurston, Whatcom, and Yakima. A high school in Oregon also sent participants."

The DOH did not specify any districts, but claims this outbreak of 80-90 cases were traced back to the events. They issued the standard COVID protocol warnings that anyone who was there should get tested, and ultimately vaccinated.

No word if any of our area high schools were involved, but it doesn't appear so.

The DOH says "guidance" will be given to all of the schools believed involved in the near future. They also included this statement:

"A team of DOH epidemiologists, in collaboration with local health jurisdiction epidemiologists, is working on gathering more information about these events and the corresponding COVID-19 cases. This is a dynamic situation and evolving investigation, and we will share updates as we learn more."

We will be watching closely to see how this affects winter sports, namely Wrestling in WA, going forward. This could affect all levels, from "B" through "4A."