Sanderson High School quarterback hospitalized
As data from the state Department of Health and Human Services shows increasing coronavirus clusters among school athletic teams, a local high school quarterback remains hospitalized with the virus.
Sources confirmed to WRAL News that a quarterback on Sanderson High School's football team is in the hospital with coronavirus, however, the boy's family, through a representative, said he was dealing "with complications from a rare sinus infection." Neith the family nor the representative replied to WRAL's direct question about whether the boy had been diagnosed with COVID-19.
The school has its first football game this Friday, with head coach Jeremy Buck returning after his own bout with the virus that sent him to a hospital.
Although Buck would not confirm the quarterback's diagnosis, Buck said he had recently returned to work after battling the virus himself.
He said he entered a local hospital around Aug. 20 and was there for about five days.
Buck said he thinks he was close to entering the ICU and was on oxygen while hospitalized and when he returned home.
Buck also said that, because of a COVID-19 outbreak, Sanderson's football team missed its first two games of the season.
On Wednesday, DHHS released new data showing a sharp increase in COVID-19 clusters among sports teams.
Between July 1 and Sept. 2, clusters among school sports teams accounted for 45 percent of clusters in the state's middle and high schools -- with at least 42 athletics-related clusters.
The state also reported that 31 percent of new coronavirus cases last week were in children under the age of 17.
Wake County officials said on Wednesday that August was one of the worst months during the pandemic for coronavirus infections in the county.
Wake County Public School System leaders are also considering stricter COVID-19 protocols as the district's coronavirus cases continue to rise. Since August, the district has reported more than 600 cases.
During Tuesday's board meeting, members received a recommendation from the ABC Science Collaborative to require staff and student-athletes to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and mandate that students wear masks at recess, among other safety protocols.
The board did not take a vote on any of the items, but it did vote to continue its universal mask mandate indoors.
