Fort Mill High School football individual tests positive for COVID-19, official says

Someone associated with the Fort Mill High School football program tested positive for COVID-19, a school district official confirmed in a statement Monday.

“As per district protocols, we have notified anyone who may have come into direct contact with the individual who tested positive,” the statement said.

Because of health and privacy rules, the district cannot disclose the name of the person who tested positive for coronavirus. As a precaution, the district has canceled all Fort Mill High School football practices for the week of June 22 through June 26, the statement said.

Fort Mill High School began summer workouts for fall sports on June 15.

The South Carolina High School League has allowed the school districts to choose when to begin summer workouts, but the league advised that schools follow its Phase 1 guidelines — which include athletes practicing social distancing, athletes not sharing sport-specific equipment, coaches wearing masks and other standards.

When contacted, Fort Mill head football coach Rob McNeely referred The Herald to the district office.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 4:40 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.