WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The second largest city in Massachusetts has postponed all fall high school sports because the community’s coronavirus transmission rate remains high.
Worcester officials on Thursday said fall sports including football, soccer and field hockey could now be played during an abbreviated season scheduled to start in late February called Fall II.
Worcester is one of dozens of communities in the state considered high-risk hotspots for the disease, according to the state Department of Public Health, meaning that the city’s average daily case rate is higher than eight positive cases per 100,000 residents.
The decision affects six public schools and two parochial schools.
“I feel super bad for the kids and coaches,” Worcester Public Schools athletic director Dave Shea told The Telegram & Gazette. “It would have been more ideal to play now than in fall II, but when it comes to the safety and wellbeing of all our athletes, coaches and everyone involved, I have to side on caution and I have to listen to the people above me saying this is the best thing to do right now.”
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