Puyallup schools suspend some sports, other activities amid coronavirus concerns
The Puyallup School District is suspending some sports, field trips and other activities due to coronavirus concerns, the district announced Tuesday.
Starting Wednesday, the following activities are suspended until further notice:
All field trips
Junior high athletic events
After school student clubs and activities
All evening or weekend events, including concerts, plays and dances
Face-to-face parent-teacher conferences
Rentals of indoor facilities by external groups
All work-related travel by district staff
Use of school volunteers
Some activities, including high school athletic events and SAT testing , will continue as scheduled.
Parents who had scheduled parent-teacher conferences this week are encouraged to talk with teachers over the phone instead.
Canceling rentals and use of school volunteers will limit the number of people coming in and out of school buildings, the district said on its website.
“We recognize that these new safety measures will likely create hardships in our community. However, these measures will reduce exposure to COVID-19 by limiting the number of people coming in and out of our buildings, and conserve vital resources,” the website stated.
Pierce County’s cases of COVID-19 doubled in one day to 14, according to new numbers released Tuesday by the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, and includes the first presumed positive cases of a child and youth in the county.
Of those cases, two of them are Puyallup residents, according to the health department.
Pierce County’s first case was reported Friday. The state on Tuesday reported 24 deaths and 267 cases across nine counties.
What is coronavirus?
Coronavirus is spread through contact between people within six feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. The disease is especially dangerous for the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 5:29 PM.
