The Times-Independent

COVID-19 spikes volleyball postseasonFree Access

5 players, coach, 5 relatives test positive


Grand County’s COVID-19 case count jumped by nine to 114 from Monday night to Tuesday night, and that number includes those affected by an outbreak among the Grand County Red Devils volleyball team, which as of Tuesday evening had five players, one coach and five players’ relatives test positive.

The Red Devil volleyball team on Senior Night
Seniors on the Red Devil volleyball team, most who have played together for years, and their parents celebrate Senior Night earlier this season. The team’s season ended prematurely after a COVID-19 outbreak. Photo by Doug McMurdo

The entire team is in quarantine, and the Top 8 squad will not compete in the playoffs.

“I made the decision to not allow the volleyball team compete in the state tournament,” said Grand County Schools Superintendent Taryn Kay.

Kay surmises the virus spread among teammates during a recent overnight trip in which four girls were assigned to a room. Kay said the girls had been diligent in wearing masks, “but obviously not when they were sleeping.”

The outbreak began with two players and five relatives then spread to three more players over the weekend, according to Kay. Before last weekend, Kay had told parents that if no other players tested positive then the team would play in the postseason. Tuesday’s final regular season game against the San Juan Broncos was first canceled.

Kay said her primary motivation in canceling postseason play was to prevent a so-called superspreader event and that she consulted with everyone from the school nurse to state experts before making that decision.

“The opportunity for spread, I felt, was strong,” said Kay. “We really felt we had to follow the science. We still had known exposure, and they were tested and quarantined. There’s no way the disease can run its course [so soon], so we saw a potential superspreader event. None of us were comfortable putting the other team at risk.”

Kay is not without sympathy for coaches and players. “They were [seeded] in the top eight and definitely would have made a run.”

But her responsibility extends far beyond high school sports. “Every school in the district has been impacted,” she said. “My goal is to keep school open for 1,500 students, not to allow the volleyball team to play. I felt that was the responsible thing to do.”

Kay noted the volleyball team’s case count was 10% of the total cases for Grand County, which was at 100 when the interview was held.

Meanwhile, the Southeast Utah Health Department’s tri-county jurisdiction of Grand, Carbon and Emery has likely already broken the 400 cases threshold. There were 396 cases reported Tuesday night, the last available report before publication, and cases had increased by 47 in the three counties over the last seven days.

Carbon County, with roughly twice as many residents as Grand, as of Tuesday was at 199 total cases while Emery, with a slightly larger population than Grand, was at 83 total. Of those, 64 cases were active, 20 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic, and four people have died, including one person in Grand County.