Clover High School football individual tests positive for COVID-19; workouts suspended

The Clover School District was notified this week that an individual involved with the football program at Clover High School tested positive for COVID-19.

“Per district protocols, we have followed DHEC guidelines, isolated appropriately and quarantined anyone in close contact with a positive test,” district spokesman Bryan Dillon said in a statement. “In the abundance of caution, we are taking the rest of this week to deep clean, sanitize and reset all areas associated with the football program.”

All football activities have been suspended through Friday.

Official practice for football programs in the South Carolina High School League does not start until Sept. 8. However, most football teams have chosen to participate in coronavirus-adjusted workouts over the summer.

Currently, teams are abiding by the league’s Phase 1.5 guidelines, which allows sharing of sport-specific equipment and limits group sizes to 15 players and a coach at each facility.

Clover High School started school on Monday, and officials said it will remain in its hybrid model, in which only half of the students who receive in-person instruction are on campus daily.

This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 10:56 AM.

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.