2 Beaufort Co. schools’ sports teams quarantine after COVID cases at summer practices
The school year won’t start in Beaufort County until Aug. 16, but COVID-19 quarantines for at least two high schools have already begun.
Battery Creek High School’s football team and Beaufort High School’s junior varsity cheerleading team are both quarantining due to exposures to infected people at summer practices, Beaufort County School District spokesperson Candace Bruder confirmed Thursday.
Between the two teams, about 50 people are in quarantine, Bruder said. One COVID case has been reported on each team.
The Beaufort High quarantine began July 30 and will end Sunday. The Battery Creek High quarantine began Wednesday and will end Aug. 13.
COVID exposures were a major issue for Beaufort County’s athletics programs last year. Every one of the district’s six high schools had at least one team-wide quarantine, which led to shortened seasons and canceled games.
The district is following the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s interim guidance for schools when establishing quarantines.
Those who are deemed “close contacts” under DHEC rules — meaning they have been within three feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes — are asked to quarantine for 10 days.
Close contacts who are fully vaccinated, and those who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 90 days, are exempt from quarantines unless they become symptomatic.
DHEC recommends that fully vaccinated people get tested for COVID-19 three to five days after exposure and wear a mask at school until they get a negative COVID test result or 14 days after exposure.