Haines Glacier Bears basketball players and coaches are quarantining this week after boys head coach Tyler Swinton tested positive for the COVID-19 virus last week.
The positive result was from a Feb. 22 test conducted in Haines, before the team traveled for games in Craig and Wrangell. It was not travel related, according to public health officials.
Based on Haines Borough School District COVID-19 mitigation policy, 17 students are quarantining, along with coaches Swinton and Coleman Stanford and activities director Lynzee Swinton. They will be tested March 4. If negative, they will no longer have to quarantine, but will not be permitted to attend school until March 15.
“I am asymptomatic,” said Swinton. “And have never had COVID- related symptoms or any other symptoms to speak of.”
Swinton, who helps run his family business at Olerud’s Market, said he wasn’t at the store during the time he could have passed the virus, based on public health guidelines and no store workers or patrons were required to quarantine.
“Everyone in my bubble has tested negative so far,” said Swinton.
The DHSS defines a close contact as an individual who was within six feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes. The DHSS traces two days prior to the symptom onset or positive test result when identifying close contacts.
Swinton took two tests in Craig on Feb. 25 and received two negative results.
School administrators and health workers determined that the date of the positive test indicated that no one in the school had been exposed to the virus. The Haines School remained open.
Superintendent Roy Getchell said he does not think the school can make a claim about the effectiveness of the traveling protocol since the virus was contracted in Haines. Getchell believes the weekly testing for athletes caught a positive that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.
“There aren’t many schools that are testing,” said Getchell. “So I’m glad we’re doing that because if something comes up we can catch it early. This regular testing helps prevent a larger outbreak in the community.”
The Craig High School had no positive cases when the teams arrived. Craig held virtual classes so the school could be sanitized.
Shortly before the Haines and Craig games, there was a middle school wrestling tournament hosted by Wrangell and attended by Petersburg. When Petersburg athletes returned home, they arrived to an outbreak of cases on the island community. Petersburg had 65 active cases as of Tuesday. Several students were among the positive cases according to the Petersburg Pilot. Four patients have been hospitalized and one was medevaced since the outbreak began last week.
A Wrangell student received a positive COVID-19 test two days before the scheduled Haines games. The games were immediately cancelled. Wrangell has two active cases.
Petersburg and Wrangell students continue to test positive. The schools are currently virtual and will stay online until the cases are under control. The Petersburg basketball team is no longer practicing.
“As of right now, our season has been put on hold with the big COVID outbreak in town,” said Ines Larson, a Petersburg basketball player. “It is very unfortunate because I know there are a lot of girls and boys who are anxious to get back to playing.”
Getchell doesn’t intend on ending the basketball season. He said activities are important to the students. The district plans to continue activities and traveling, with additional mitigation efforts including required masking during activities.
“We’re going to let the dust settle and see what happens,” said Getchell when asked about the outlook of the basketball season. “The school has to refocus our efforts to reduce the spread. This event is a good reminder to be safe.”
The players were not required to wear masks in the Craig series. Senior Carson Crager wore his mask despite it being optional.
“I wore my mask because we’ve been practicing with them on so I’m used to it,” said Crager. “Our school also went through a lot of work to get us games and to let us travel, so the least I could do for the community was wear my mask.”
Getchell will discuss adding a mask mandate in the activity protocol. He hopes that this will help prevent positive COVID-19 cases in the future.
“Our school has done really well because we have been working together. Even though we’ve identified a case, it’s nobody’s fault. We’re going to work together and get to the other side of this pandemic,” Getchell said. “It’s also a reminder to not let our guard down. We’ve got to be careful. We want to get to the end of the school year as positively as possible.”