Unclear what led Wausau East to suspend football, tennis, as school cites 'increased COVID activity'

WAUSAU – Wausau East High School suspended all football and tennis for two weeks "due to increased COVID activity," although a school district statement was unclear about whether anyone involved in those programs tested positive.

School officials said Sunday the decision was made in consultation with the Marathon County Health Department, which had issued a warning on Friday that people should stop all large group gatherings including sports events because of a surge in local cases.

Wausau East went ahead with its first Friday night football game of the season, the annual Log Game against Wausau West, despite that warning. The girls tennis team has also competed, most recently on Sept. 22, and was 2-0 in its conference as of Monday.

“We are committed to the health and safety of our athletes, coaches, community and opponents,” officials said in a statement. “Due to increased COVID activity, we are making the difficult decision to institute a two week hold on football and tennis activities at the varsity ad junior varsity levels.”

The Marathon County Health Department also is investigating a COVID-19 exposure involving "many youths" at an east-side basketball court. Health officials said Saturday a group of children were playing basketball at Tenth Street Park on Sept. 18 for about six hours with no efforts to protect themselves from the coronavirus, and one person tested positive for COVID-19.

“This type of gathering; including many people, over a long period of time, not using prevention measures; is contributing to the dramatic increases in cases being seen in our area,” Health Department spokesman Judy Burrows said in a statement. “This is the kind of activity that contributes to community spread.”

School officials said they are monitoring growing cases in Marathon County and will make more adjustments to protect the health of everyone involved. They encouraged everyone to follow public health guidelines, including washing hands, maintaining social distance and wearing a mask in public.

“Regardless of what type of illness we are experiencing in our community, COVID-19, the flu, or a cold, we want everyone to be as healthy as possible,” officials said in a statement. “Our community is a vibrant, diverse collection of people who are critically important to us.”