California youth basketball tournaments led to the outbreak of Covid-19, health officials say



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The infected people were involved in tournaments November 7-8 at the Rocklin Courtside Basketball Center, Placer County health officials said this week.

“Unfortunately, the Courtside Basketball Center has not responded to our commitment for many months,” interim county health officer, Dr. KCRA, told CNN affiliate KCRA. Rob Oldham.

The Courtside Basketball Center did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

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The center’s website says it hosted the “Fall Fest” tournaments from November 7-8. The event was organized by Hotshots Youth Basketball and was open to boys aged 8 and younger through college level and girls up to 13 years old through college level, the site says.
Even Hotshots Youth Basketball League, which operates out of the Courtside Basketball Center and has the same phone number on its website, did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
The Courtside Basketball Center website includes a Covid-19 safety protocols page which, among other rules, stipulates that all players, coaches, parents, referees and staff must pass a door temperature check and wear masks.
Anyone who was at the basketball center that weekend “may have been exposed to the coronavirus and are advised to quarantine and seek tests for the virus, regardless of whether they have symptoms,” the county said in an online warning.

Some people who were exposed during the November 7-8 tournaments also participated in subsequent tournaments at the facility, the county health office said. Anyone who was in the center during those subsequent tournaments should also take the test, the county said.

Placer County, northeast of Sacramento and home to nearly 400,000 people, has reported more than 6,200 cases of Covid-19 and 68 deaths from Covid-19 during the pandemic.
The Placer County Health Bureau has urged the public to avoid any indoor activities at the basketball center, because the county currently falls within the purple, or more restrictive, band of California’s four levels of coronavirus risk.
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On its website, the Courtside Basketball Center lists four upcoming tournaments through the end of December.

The state assigns counties to tiers based on test positive and Covid-19 case rates. In purple tier counties, many non-essential businesses must close internal businesses.

“As a gym / fitness center, the Courtside Basketball Center can only operate outdoors at this time,” reads the county’s online notice.

At the time of the November 7-8 tournaments, Placer County was at a less restricted level, the red level.
At that level, gyms and fitness centers can host indoor activities with modifications and capacity limited to 10%, according to state guidelines. But the state ban on youth competitions was still in place.

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