In-person instruction hasn’t started yet at Anchorage public schools, but there are already coronavirus infections tied to the school district.
On Friday, the Anchorage School District reported 25 active COVID-19 cases among staff and student athletes, and another 78 people in quarantine because of close contact with someone who tested positive.
On top of that, dozens of student athletes are in quarantine, according to district spokesman Alan Brown. Brown said Friday that he did not have the exact number of student athletes in quarantine, and he said he also did not have the total number of teams impacted.
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According to a statement from the district, the teams in quarantine are from 10 high school sports programs:
• Volleyball at Dimond, Service and West
• Tennis at Bartlett, Dimond, Service and South
• Football at West and Dimond
• Basketball at South
High school volleyball started a two-week suspension on Thursday “due to an increase in the number of cases and potential exposures among players and coaches,” the district’s statement said.
In early September, the district allowed its high school teams to move forward with full practices and games.
Brown declined to say Friday how many of the 25 active COVID-19 cases involved students, and how many involved staff. He also declined to provide specifics about where the infections not related to sports were tied to. He said the district needed to protect people’s privacy.
“This is a large school district but we all know this is a very small community, so as soon as you ID a specific school, word travels fast and it doesn’t take long before everyone knows who that person is,” Brown said.
He added: “If a student or staff member doesn’t feel like their privacy is going to be protected, then they may not feel comfortable reporting.”
The Municipality of Anchorage is currently experiencing a rise in COVID-19 infections, prompting the school district on Thursday to indefinitely delay the start of in-person learning.
Tegan Hanlon is the digital managing editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at thanlon@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8447. Read more about Tegan here.
