The Junction City School District reported two confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the high school’s athletic department Thursday. JCSD Superintendent Robby Lowe said the cases were in two varsity football players.
A post made on the JCSD website Thursday morning advised that any varsity football players who attended practice Monday and Tuesday, August 3 and 4, be observant for possible COVID-19 symptoms. The post said possible close contact information had been relayed to the Arkansas Department of Health, which is currently conducting contact tracing.
According to the ADH, contact tracers may call those who have been exposed to the virus from either of the following numbers: 877-272-6819 or 833-283-2019.
“As soon as (football) coach (Brad) Smith notified me, I notified the Department of Health,” Junction City Superintendent Robby Lowe said. “We don’t know if it was transmitted at school or elsewhere. The only logical thing we could do as a district was to stop all extracurricular activities out of an abundance of caution. We’re being as proactive as we can.”
Parents are asked to contact JCSD coaches if their children who are athletes do test positive for COVID-19 so the information can be relayed to the ADH.
A spokesperson for the ADH said the department is currently collecting information about COVID cases from schools and working to decide how to share it publicly.
All JCSD extracurricular activities have been stopped until August 17 effective Thursday morning due to the confirmed cases.
The Dragons are slated to host Harmony Grove on Aug. 28 in their season opener. They won the 2A state championship in 2018 and were the state-runners up in 2019.
With all extracurricular activities shut down, Junction City’s golf matches against Camden Fairview that were slated yesterday and for Aug. 11 are postponed.
The next match on the calendar for the golf team after extracurricular activities are set to resume is Aug. 19 against Harmony Grove and Parkers Chapel.
Caitlan Butler contributed reporting.