The Whistler Slo-Pitch Association has announced it is suspending all league games at least a week after a small cluster of COVID-19 cases involving players in Whistler and Squamish has been identified.*
In an email sent to players last night, the association said one individual from the league’s Division 1 played Thursday, Aug. 27 at Meadow Park before showing symptoms and testing positive for the virus. Anyone that was potentially exposed has been contacted.
In a follow-up interview, league convenor Alison Jenkins clarified that three Squamish SloPitch players have also recently tested positive for the virus, and with some players playing in both leagues, Jenkins said there may have been additional potential exposure in Whistler.
"My understanding is that [the Squamish players who tested positive] played in Squamish during the week and we do have players that also play in Squamish, but whether these players actually played at the same time, I don’t know," she explained. "We have players that play in both leagues, so it’s possible that other people within Whistler may have interacted with those people."
The league said Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is aware of the cases, and that the Resort Municipality of Whistler and Slo-Pitch National were notified today. A spokesperson for VCH declined to comment on the cases, citing the organization's privacy policy, which only publicizes confirmed cases in small communities when "they are not able to reach all close contacts and it is necessary to inform people about a potential exposure."
All league games this week have been suspended and will be pushed to next week, but Jenkins said that could be extended depending on advice from health authorities. She added that health authorities advised league officials that any players who were potentially exposed to the virus do not need to self-isolate, but should monitor for symptoms over the next 14 days.
Any league players who become symptomatic or test positive for COVID should contact the league at [email protected].
*This story has been updated with new information since publication.
[Editor's Note: The author of this story is a Whistler Slo-Pitch player.]
