Connecticut DPH, CIAC winter sports guidelines say no masks for vaccinated athletes after Dec. 23, but CIAC will continue to monitor situation

The Connecticut Department of Public Health and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference issued guidelines for winter interscholastic sports Monday, stating that vaccinated athletes do not have to wear masks while playing sports after Dec. 23. However, the CIAC stated the organization would continue to evaluate the guidance during the season, especially over winter break, about whether the new masking protocols should stay in place or if they should revert back to athletes wearing masks.

The DPH’s guidelines also encompassed youth sports.

Last winter’s sports season started late, on Feb. 1, and all participants had to wear masks, while wrestling, a close contact sport, was not contested.

The winter sports season is scheduled to start next Monday with ice hockey, wrestling and girls basketball practices. Games for those sports begin Dec. 13. Boys basketball, boys swimming, gymnastics and indoor track practices start Dec. 2, and the first games and meets will be Dec. 16. There will be a full season, unlike last winter, and state championships are expected to be held.

The DPH stated it will continue to watch for any spikes in infections among athletes.

The guidelines stated: “DPH will continue to closely monitor the experience of youth sports organizations with the implementation of more relaxed masking rules during competitions taking place over the holiday recess and will make any necessary revisions to this guidance if and when it is deemed necessary and appropriate for the protection of public health.”

The CIAC sent out its set of guidelines to member schools Monday night after the DPH released its guidance.

CIAC executive director Glenn Lungarini said he didn’t want to comment until after he met with athletic directors on Tuesday.

Mask guidelines

Masks will be required whenever the athletes aren’t competing, as well as on bus trips. Unvaccinated athletes must wear masks while competing and all other times, and the DPH stated that unmasked athletes not fully vaccinated should not participate in indoor events “unless all other mitigation strategies can be reliably and consistently implemented.”

The CIAC guidance stated that the organization “will closely monitor the experience of schools with the implementation of more relaxed masking rules during interscholastic competitions taking place over the holiday recess and will determine prior to the start of the Winter academic session, in close collaboration with CSMS, CSDE and DPH, whether new masking protocols should continue or if reverting to previous protocols is warranted.”

The DPH guidance further states that club and team organizers are responsible for individuals adhering to mask guidelines, and if a local mandate requires mask usage in indoor facilities, athletic administrators must work with local authorities regarding regulation and compliance.

Quarantines

If a vaccinated athlete comes into contact with a known COVID-19 case, the athlete, if symptom-free, will not have to quarantine for 14 days, but will have to get tested five to seven days after exposure and will have to wear a mask while competing until the test result comes back negative.

If the athlete is vaccinated and having symptoms, they must quarantine for 14 days, or 10 days with a negative test on the eighth day, and wear a mask when around others until they have a negative test.

Unvaccinated athletes with exposure to a COVID-19 case must quarantine for 14 days, or 10 days with a negative test on the eighth day.

Officials

The CIAC recommended that swim, wrestling, dance and cheer officials and judges wear masks, regardless of vaccination status but that fully vaccinated basketball and hockey officials are not required to wear masks.

Fans

The CIAC report states that fans’ attendance at games will be determined by the policies of each local health district.

Out of state competition

The DPH recommends that the unvaccinated athletes not travel out of state for competition, but vaccinated athletes are allowed to do so if they follow the CDC guidelines for travel.

Vaccine clinics

The DPH urged athletic administrators to consider hosting vaccine clinics. There was a clinic at Dillon Stadium in Hartford last weekend during the CIAC boys and girls soccer championships, and many people, including Lungarini and Bulkeley High athletic director Diane Callis, got booster shots.

The guidance said: “DPH advises that athletic program administrators can help protect their participant families by hosting vaccination events. DPH and the Connecticut State Department of Education have developed a useful vaccine toolkit (#Vax2SchoolCT) to assist with the planning and execution of vaccine clinics for students, staff, and their families in schools, however this toolkit can be similarly useful to athletic organizations if they are considering similar vaccination events at their facilities.”

Monitoring potential spread

The CIAC has been collecting COVID-19 data related to high school sports, since they started up again last October.

“The CIAC, along with its sports medicine advisory committee, closely monitors any indication that participation in such activities creates a significant transmission risk,” the report stated. “To date, CIAC and national data support that interscholastic athletic competition is not a source of significant COVID-19 spread. Rather, it is the activities around sport competition that pose the greatest risk.”

Lori Riley can be reached at lriley@courant.com.