Saskatoon Youth Soccer, 4 schools report new COVID-19 cases

A Saskatoon soccer association has shut down two of its mini leagues after three cases of COVID-19 were recently discovered in people involved.

On Tuesday, Saskatoon Youth Soccer Inc. (SYSI) sent a letter home to parents telling them about the situation. The league asked anyone present at the Saskatoon Sports Centre on Oct. 21 from 5 to 6:45 p.m. CST to self-monitor for 14 days.

The letter did not identify if the cases were found in players, coaches or someone else.

"We're hoping that it'll stop there," said executive director Amanda Probe.

"But if there are further cases, then we'll take the necessary precautions and and suspend any other affected mini-leagues." 

At the start of the season, SYSI broke all of its teams into mini-leagues comprised of 50 players and coaches to limit the amount of contact.

Now, two of those leagues have been shut down for 14 days.

"If one other person starts experiencing symptoms and they are tested positive, then the 14 days restart from the day that they had their first onset of symptoms," said Probe.

"As soon as the 14 days are up and we haven't received any more cases within that mini league, then we would resume play after that."

Any person who contracts COVID-19 will not be allowed back into the league until they receive a negative test.

The league said that transmission risk was low for anyone not in close contact with the affected people.

On its website, SYSI has outlined safety measures, including players wearing a mask until they are on the field, making sure fields are separated and teams staying in their dressing rooms until it is time to play.

Only one parent spectator per child is allowed and the presence of younger siblings is strongly discouraged.

There are 1,900 players registered in the league right now. SYSI plays at the Saskatoon Sports Centre and the Henk Ruys Soccer Centre.

New school cases

Meanwhile, new cases of COVID-19 continue to be discovered in people who go to schools in Saskatoon.

On Tuesday, parents with children at Centennial Collegiate, Willowgrove School and Ecole St. Peter School all received letters informing them that a positive case of COVID-19 had been diagnosed.

Parents at Marion M. Graham Collegiate also received a letter saying that another case had been discovered at the school. 

On Saturday, Saskatoon Public Schools announced Marion Graham was officially deemed to be the site of an outbreak after two cases had been discovered.

Another case of COVID-19 was discovered at Centennial Collegiate last week. The Saskatchewan Health Authority has not declared an outbreak there.

All affected schools will remain open. Anyone who was in close contact with the affected people will be notified by public health.