High-Contact Sports Prohibited In DC Due To Coronavirus

WASHINGTON, DC — Starting Monday, all high-contact sports are prohibited in the District, according to a new order from Mayor Muriel Bowser. The prohibited sports include basketball, hockey, rugby, boxing, lacrosse, soccer, football, martial arts, and wrestling.

"Obviously, this restriction is due to the amount of contact and type of contact people have when playing these sports," Bowser said, during a Monday morning press briefing.

The restrictions do not apply to professional or university leagues, which are required to have approved health and safety plans.

Bowser also suspended all high-school extracurricular sports and competitions for D.C. Public Schools, as well as public charter, private, and parochial schools in the District.

Recreation centers and sports clubs must also suspend any organized athletic activities and physical sports for high-school aged athletes. This includes not just high-contact sports but also other sports and physical activities.

"The decision to do this is tied to observations around unsupervised interactions that are happening before and after activities with older students," Bowser said.

The D.C. State Athletic Association has already notified schools that the return to practice date has been postponed from Dec. 14 to Feb. 1.

Middle school students and younger may continue to take part in organized drills and clinics for high-contact sports as long at the athletes are restricted to groups of 12 or less and the activities do not involve actual physical contact. For all grades, physical education classes must not involve activities in which students come within less than 6 feet of each other.

The D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation will stop issuing permits for team play and organized sports on its fields. Any group with an existing DPR permit for a sport involving physical contact may only use the permit to conduct no-contact drills and workouts for students younger than high school or for adults.

Monday's updated guidance follows Bowser's previous order changing Phase 2 guidance, which went into effect on Nov. 23. At that time, the number of people allowed at an outdoor gathering was reduce to 25 people and and the number for indoor gatherings was reduced to 10 people. Restaurants were also ordered to suspend alcohol sales, service, and consumption by 10 p.m., and the capacity for indoor dining was lowered to 25 percent. In addition, the District suspended its live entertainment pilot and placed restrictions on group exercise.

D.C. entered the second stage of its phased reopening in June. This came in the aftermath of Bowser's earlier stay-at-home order, which directed district residents to stay home and many business to shut their doors to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the illness associated with the new coronavirus.

Since June, many businesses have been able to reopen with restrictions and the public has been able gather with limitations. But recent surges in COVID-19 across the country have forced many jurisdictions to halt the reopening process and even roll back some allowable activities.

D.C. Department of Health 183 new positive cases of COVID-19, the illness associated with the new coronavirus, on Monday. That's down from the the 264 reported on Sunday. This brings the District's total number of positive cases to date to 23,319.

D.C. Health also confirmed four new deaths in the District due to COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total number of deaths in the District stands at 701.

According to D.C. Health, 739,084 coronavirus tests have been administered in the District, 319,187 residents have been tested, and 16,733 have been cleared from isolation.

The District currently has 52 intensive care unit beds available out of 345 total intensive care unit beds. There are currently 202 in-use ventilators and 238 available. Also, there are 51 COVID-19-positive ICU patients.

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Globally, more than 67.1 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and over 1.5 million people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Monday morning. In the United States, more than 14.7 million people have been infected and over 282,000 people have died from COVID-19.

District residents should take the following actions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19:

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. An alcohol-based hand sanitizer can be used if soap and water are not available.
• Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Also see ...

• DC Public Schools To Start New COVID-19 Testing Protocol
• DC Coronavirus Update: 1 Additional Death; 316 New Cases
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• 5 New Deaths Due To Coronavirus Reported In DC
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• DC Rolls Out Grant Program To Help Those Impacted By Coronavirus