Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials have adjusted youth sports testing requirements for athletes and coaches, removing the testing requirement for fully vaccinated youth participating in outdoor sports.
Additionally, the revised health officer order, which went into effect Wednesday, removed the requirement that athletes and staff test negative within 72 hours of inter-team competition.
The order still requires weekly testing for all youth, staff, coaches and volunteers who are not fully vaccinated and are involved in “moderate-” or “high-risk” indoor sports, while youth 12 and older involved in “moderate-” or “high-risk” outdoor sports are also required to undergo weekly testing if unvaccinated. No weekly testing is required for children under 12 involved in outdoor sports.
High-risk sports include basketball, boxing, football, ice hockey, ice skating (pairs), lacrosse (boys/men), martial arts, roller derby, rugby, rowing/crew (with two or more people), soccer, water polo and wrestling. Moderate-risk sports include badminton (doubles), baseball, cheerleading, dance (intermittent contact), dodgeball, field hockey, flag football, kickball, lacrosse (girls/women), pickleball (doubles), squash, softball, tennis (doubles) and volleyball.
Schools, coaches or leagues are required to keep records of vaccination verification and weekly testing.
If there is a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, all players, coaches, staff and volunteers are required to have a weekly negative test for two weeks following exposure.
Public Health officials said the rules could be modified further based on the availability of testing and will be reassessed when community transmission is no longer high.
“The most important task in front of us right now is to do everything we can to keep children, teachers and staff safe at their schools,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “Getting eligible children and staff vaccinated is the most critical step in reducing risk. The more individuals are vaccinated at schools and in our communities, the greater the layer of protection for those not yet eligible for vaccines.”
Public Health officials also released the following updated COVID-19 statistics Wednesday:
Countywide COVID-19 cases reported in the past 24 hours: 2,277
Total COVID-19 cases in L.A. County: 1,409,545
New deaths related to COVID-19 reported in the past 24 hours: 38
Total COVID-19 deaths in L.A. County: 25,322
Hospitalizations countywide: 1,699, 26% of which are in the ICU.
Hospitalizations at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Aug. 30: 43, with 1,429 discharged since the onset of the pandemic.
COVID-19 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley in the past 24 hours: 40, 15 of which came from the city of Santa Clarita
Total COVID-19 cases in the SCV: 33,740
Total COVID-19 deaths in the SCV as of Aug. 31: 314
Percentage of vaccinated people (at least one dose) in the city of Santa Clarita as of Aug. 26: 74.8%
Percentage of vaccinated people (at least one dose) in the SCV as of Aug. 26: 71.2%
