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With Idaho hospitals in COVID-19 crisis, what changes are high school sports making?

Idaho entered a dangerous new era of the coronavirus pandemic last week, activating crisis standards of care for hospitals across the state. So what changes should high school sports fans expect as they head out to games?

Not many.

Unlike Boise State football, none of the high schools in the 5A and 4A Southern Idaho Conferences are implementing any new restrictions to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

No one will need to show proof of vaccination. Mask requirements remain few and far between. And no school is limiting attendance — like they did last fall and winter — as hospitals enter a time of possibly rationing care and Idaho continually sets records for hospitalizations and ICU patients.

Only three of the Boise area’s largest school systems — the Boise School District, the Caldwell School District and Bishop Kelly High — are following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations and requiring fans to wear masks indoors. CDC guidance published Aug. 5 recommends “universal indoor masking by all students … staff, teachers and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.”

Those three required masks indoors for their entire schools before the state implemented crisis standards of care. Meanwhile, the West Ada School District, Idaho’s largest, requires masks during the school day but not after hours for indoor sports, such as a volleyball match.

Sports hosted outdoors see even fewer restrictions. The only games with a mask requirement are football games at Dona Larsen Park, home to the varsity teams in the Boise School District. That’s because Boise State, the owner of the stadium, requires masks at all times in crowded outdoor spaces. But adherence and enforcement have been lax in games attended by the Idaho Statesman, including for those working the game.

The CDC notes the risk of transmitting and catching the coronavirus is lower outdoors. But it recommends wearing a mask if you can’t stay at least 6 feet away from those outside your household.

That kind of distance is difficult to maintain as fans fill high school football stadiums. The largest games have hosted thousands of students, parents and community members packed shoulder to shoulder — with few, if any, masks in sight.

Dave Jeppesen, the director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, pleaded with the public to help slow the spread of the coronavirus when announcing statewide crisis standards of care last week.

Jeppesen repeated the call to wear masks indoors when in public and in crowded outdoor settings. Unvaccinated patients have flooded hospitals as Idaho remains one of the most vaccine-resistant states in the country.

Only 51% of the eligible population, those 12 and older, is fully vaccinated, well below the national average of 64%, according to Health and Welfare. Those numbers plummet even further for students, including 12-to-15 year-olds (27%) and 16-to-17 year-olds (34%).

“We can’t change what has already happened, but we can all do our part to protect our hospitals and health care systems,” Jeppesen wrote on the health department’s website.

“The best way to end crisis standards of care is for more people to get vaccinated. It dramatically reduces your chances of having to go to the hospital if you do get sick from COVID-19.

“In addition, please wear a mask indoors in public and outdoors when it’s crowded to help slow the spread.”

BOB FIRMAN CANCELED AGAIN

Organizers canceled one of the Northwest’s largest and most prestigious cross country meets after Idaho implemented statewide crisis standards of care.

The Bob Firman Invitational was scheduled to bring more than 100 teams from throughout the West to Eagle Island State Park on Saturday. Instead, it was canceled for the second straight year.