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COVID-19 case emerges at Maine West football camp; York camps canceled

In a message to the “Warrior Football Family,” Maine West head football coach George Klupchak told parents and athletes that a player had tested positive for COVID-19.

“As you know, our athletes and coaches have been training in pods (groups) of players and coaches,” he wrote in Friday's message. “If your student-athlete was in the pod with the athlete who tested positive for COVID, Maine West's athletic training staff will be contacting you.

“The health and safety of our athletes and coaches will always be our first priority, so out of an abundance of caution, we are canceling the remaining 8 in-person sessions of the football camp for all participants.”

Football camp instead will be conducted virtually. The Des Plaines school's coaching staff will meet on Monday to discuss the change.

All campers who have paid in full will receive a 50% refund, officials said. Players will receive their camp T-shirts once a 14-day quarantine period is complete.

Maine Township High School District 207 said the coaches and athletic director took extra precautions to safeguard the athletes from the outset of camp, dividing the approximately 75 participants into three small groups. Additionally, the camp did not include any contact drills or close contact drills.

All coaches and athletes were screened each day for temperature, the district said. Anyone who registered 100.4 or higher was not allowed to participate. Additionally, all campers were required to bring a mask and their own filled water bottles.

Meanwhile, York Community High School announced it has canceled sports camps until Aug. 9

David Moyer, superintendent of Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205, said that over the past few days, several instances of possible COVID-19 exposure and positive cases have occurred.

“Our community is tight knit and above all, the protection of the health and safety of our community is our first priority,” he said in a statement posted on the high school's website. As we cautiously proceed toward reopening, our focus must be starting school on August 24, 2020, as safely as possible.”

Earlier this month, all Lake Zurich District 95 sports camps were suspended and its participants urged to quarantine after “a number of families” reported that students who participated in football, baseball and poms camps had tested positive for COVID-19.

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