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Gov Lee: High school sports can continue, but attendance will be limited




TENNESSEE GOV. BILL LEE

TENNESSEE GOV. BILL LEE

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced during a statewide address Sunday that high school sports can continue to be played amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but fan attendance will be limited.

In Lee’s Executive Order No. 70, schools “shall not permit spectators to attend practices, games or competition” other than game personnel, coaches, school administrators, media, scouts, first responders and immediate family members of participating athletes.

Pep bands, cheerleaders and dance teams cannot attend athletic contests while the restrictions are in place. The order went into effect Sunday night and expires Jan. 19.

“I believe high school sports are an important part of our kids’ lives, and they should continue,” Lee said during his address. “But in coordination with the TSSAA, we are limiting attendance at indoor sporting events.”

The TSSAA, which previously had COVID-19 regulations that only “encouraged” schools to limit attendance, reaffirmed the Governor’s decision in a statement released Monday.

“TSSAA concurs with (the) Governor’s office that these restrictions represent the best means for us to continue providing interscholastic athletic participation opportunities to our student-athletes while also doing our part to curb the spread of the virus,” the statement said. “We remain hopeful that we will soon begin to see a decline in the instances of infection and that our schools will soon be able to return to more normal operation of their athletic competition.”

Lee’s address came in response to an ongoing virus surge in Tennessee. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the state has averaged 128.1 new daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days – the highest mark in the nation.

The Tennessee Dept. of Health reported the state had totaled 519,587 cases, 434,977 recoveries and 6,071 deaths as of Sunday afternoon.

The order also said Tennesseans “shall not in any event be in a group of ten or more persons in an indoor public space for the purposes of social gatherings, activities, or events.” Places of worship, weddings and funerals are not subject to the limitation, though social distancing is strongly encouraged.

Public school systems in several Middle Tennessee counties – including Davidson, Montgomery, Robertson and Wilson – recently paused all athletic events. Others had implemented capacity restrictions of varying degrees, but Lee’s order provides the first statewide attendance policy since high school sporting events resumed in August.

Collegiate and professional sporting events continue to be subject to the protocols of their governing bodies, according to the order.

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