Study finds high school athletes
are not adding to Coronavirus count

Participation in high school sports in the state has not led to an increase in COVID-19 infections among high school student-athletes.

That was the conclusion of a study released two week ago conducted by the Department of Orthopedics & Rehabilitation at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

The COVID-19 in Wisconsin High School Athletics study reveals the case and incidence rate of a statewide sampling, which represented 30,000 student-athletes, are actually lower than those reported by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for those 14-17 years of age.

In addition, the survey found that no sport had a statistically higher incidence rate than that of teenagers during the same period of time. Furthermore, only one case – or 0.5 percent of the reported cases – was attributed to transmission during sports activities.

Another finding of the study confirms existing literature regarding the severity of COVID-19 in children. There were no cases reported that resulted in hospitalization or death.

An encouraging and significant aspect of the study’s conclusion highlights the efforts of member schools to follow the prescribed guidelines developed by the WIAA’s Sports Medical Advisory Committee. All schools responding to the study reported having a formal plan in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and most indicated they used a broad range of procedures to reduce risk of exposure and infection.