By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

FRYEBURG — Keeping their fingers crossed, Athletic Director Sue Thurston and Fryeburg Academy athletes hoped to see “green” today, but instead, they saw the dreaded “yellow.”

FA athletics had been suspended — no organized practices or games — when Gov. Janet Mills raised the “yellow” flag due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in Oxford County.

Thurston, along with fall sports coaches and athletes, awaited the governor’s Friday posting regarding whether Oxford County would regain its “green” status.

But, there was no change — the county remains under “yellow” status.

However, Fryeburg Academy’s administration has given the green light for the school to resume athletics and afterschool activities.

“Fryeburg Academy has made the decision to resume athletic and afterschool programs after careful consideration of stable transmission numbers within the MSAD 72 district,” said FA Head of School Erin Mayo in a press release. “The Academy had suspended these activities on Sept. 25 when the Maine CDC and Governor Mills’ Office changed Oxford County’s transmission risk from ‘green’ to ‘yellow.’ The Maine CDC’s data on Oxford County strongly suggest that Fryeburg Academy’s local conditions allow for safe resumption of athletic and other extracurricular activity.

Mayo added, “There have been no cases on campus among FA students or staff, and among MSAD72 towns, case numbers have remained very low and stable. All have had only 0-6 cases each recorded since the beginning of the pandemic. For these reasons, Fryeburg Academy athletics and extracurriculars will resume. All participants will adhere to established health and safety protocols.”

In addition to this data, the decision to resume these activities at the Academy was based on the Maine Principals’ Association’s guide document for schools’ return to athletics, which states that outlined measures related to county transmission color designations, “are advisory for school administrators. Those administrators may consider local conditions and make their own decisions,” according to the school’s press release.

“The administration will continue to monitor state and county virus transmission closely in the coming weeks and make any necessary changes to its athletic and afterschool programs based on this data,” Mayo said.

Governor’s update

The following was released by the governor’s office at 12:25 p.m.:

The Mills Administration today released a special update to its color-coded Health Advisory System that classifies counties’ relative risk of COVID-19 transmission by color, and is provided to assist schools as they continue with their plans to deliver instruction and support students safely this fall.

As previously announced, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reassessed York, Oxford and Androscoggin counties one week early due to recent, concerning trends. Based on this assessment, York and Oxford counties remain yellow, and Androscoggin County remains green. All 16 counties will be reassessed in one week.

While still elevated compared to other counties, both the two-week positivity rates and case rates in York and Oxford counties were slightly lower this week, compared to last week.

Androscoggin County will continue to be monitored closely. Cases continue to rise but the county’s positivity rate is relatively low at 0.9%.

Maine’s other 13 counties remain green.

Under the “yellow” designation, which indicates an increased (moderate) level of community risk, schools may consider additional precautions, such as limiting numbers of people in school buildings at the same time, suspending extracurricular or co-curricular activities including competitions between schools, limiting interaction through cohorting, or other measures based on the unique needs of each school community.

These designations are made out of an abundance of caution and for the consideration of school administrative units in their decisions to deliver instruction.

It is essential that school districts across the State of Maine continue to implement plans that adhere to the six requirements for returning to in-person instruction, regardless of their county’s red, yellow, or green designation.

The Health Advisory System categorizations are defined as follows:

• RED: Categorization as “red” suggests that the county has a high risk of COVID-19 spread and that in-person instruction?is not advisable.
• YELLOW: Categorization as “yellow” suggests that that the county has an elevated risk of COVID-19 spread and that schools may consider additional precautions and/or hybrid instructional models as a way to reduce the number of people in schools and classrooms at any one time.
• GREEN: Categorization as “green” suggests that the county has a relatively low risk of COVID-19 spread and that schools may consider in-person instruction, as long as they are able to implement the required health and safety measures.  Schools in a “green” county may need to use hybrid instruction models if there is insufficient capacity or other factors (facilities, staffing, geography/transportation, etc.) that may prevent full implementation of the health and safety requirements.

The county-level assessments are based on both quantitative and qualitative data, including but not limited to recent case rates, positivity rates, and syndromic data (e.g., symptoms of influenza or COVID-19). Those data are publicly posted every week on the Maine CDC website.

DHHS and Maine CDC also consider qualitative factors, such as the presence of outbreaks that may potentially affect school-age children.

The Health Advisory System reflects ongoing analysis of evolving data, and serves as one piece of information that school and district leaders can use to make decisions about how to deliver education this fall. The qualitative and quantitative considerations and data used by the CDC in determining community transmission risk levels for schools can be located here: How County Risk Levels for Maine Schools are Determined

The next update is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 9, 2020.