Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s administration updated the state’s return to sports guidelines this afternoon and changed a key portion concerning who can attend K-12 sporting events this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The changes allow parents, family members and other fans to attend games and events, though individual school districts will have to implement that change and still stay within the state’s occupancy and group gathering limits. The rules of indoor and outdoor gatherings still apply, with indoor games limited to 25 and outdoor contests limited to 250. Everyone at a facility for a game or event, including but not limited to players, coaches, event staff, officials, media members, along with fans and family members, count against the venue’s capacity limit, which cannot exceed 50 percent of “occupancy otherwise permitted by law.”
The guideline change now reads as follows:
“All sports-related activities must adhere to the gathering limitations set forth by the Governor’s Plan for Phased Reopening (25 or fewer people for indoor activity, 250 or fewer people for outdoor activity) and the facility as a whole may not exceed 50 percent of total occupancy otherwise permitted by law. All individuals present at the facility at which such activities are held count towards gathering limitations and must comply with face covering order and social distancing guidelines.”
The same paragraph in the guidelines read this way on Aug. 6:
“All sports-related activities must adhere to the gathering limitations set forth by the Governor’s Plan for Phased Reopening (25 or fewer people for indoor activity, 250 or fewer people for outdoor activity) and the facility as a whole may not exceed 50 percent of total occupancy otherwise permitted by law. Sports-related activities at the PK-12 level are limited to student athletes, coaches, officials, and staff only. Band and cheer are also allowed in a sports setting, but individuals involved in such activities count towards gathering limitations and must comply with face covering order and social distancing guidelines. Visitors and spectators are prohibited from attending in-person sports-related activities.”
These two sentences were deleted from the Aug. 6 edition:
– “Sports-related activities at the PK-12 level are limited to student athletes, coaches, officials, and staff only.”
– ”Visitors and spectators are prohibited from attending in-person sports-related activities.”
Wolf is still strongly recommending that high school sports be put off until Jan. 1, 2021.
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