WEYMOUTH, MASS. (WHDH) – Health officials are investigating a COVID-19 cluster linked to a youth cheer training facility in Weymouth.
A total of 37 participants of the cheer training facility have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Thursday, according to the Weymouth Health Department.
Town officials say they were notified by a parent on Monday.
“The owner shut down on, I believe, Monday when they before, even being contacted by our health department. I think they found out about the same time I’m assuming as our health department did,” Mayor Bob Hedlund said.
Four of those participants are Weymouth residents, while the others are from Braintree, Rockland, Randolph, Quincy, Brookline, East Bridgewater, Hingham, Kingston, Marion, Franklin, Whitman, Dedham, and Easton.
The count does not include any positive family members or contacts as the health departments says this is still being investigated.
“We have only two full-time public health nurses here in town and that has almost taken up their time exclusively since we became aware of the situation on Monday,” Hedlund said.
Cheer Sport Sharks is based in Canada and even has a Netflix show called Cheer Squad.
The owner of the Weymouth facility, Kel Fichtner said she has followed a stringent safety protocol during the past year and that:
“With this protocol, we had not had any positive COVID cases, until the recent occurrences. In my 25 years as a cheer coach and cheer gym owner I have never put anything but my athletes’ health and wellness first.”
The health department says they are working to make sure everyone involved follows quarantine and isolation requirements to reduce the potential continued spread of the virus.
They are also in contact with the business owner to ensure the facility is operating in full compliance with State Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs COVID-19 safety standards imposed on sports training facilities.
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