Eatonville, Wash., high school is requiring some athletes, staff to wear monitors to trace Covid

Eatonville High School in Eatonville, Wash., is requiring some athletes and coaches to wear tracking devices on their wrists to trace Covid-19 during practices. 

The monitors are intended to trace exposure in the event of a positive Covid-19 case, reports The News Tribune.

The monitors will be used for high contact and moderate indoor contact sports. 

Should students or staff test positive, the coaches and administrators will have instant data to determine if players need to quarantine.

The Eatonville (Wash.) district said in a statement that all the participants in those sports are wearing the monitors regardless of their vaccination status.

“We received grant funding (known as ESSER III) that specifically included provisions to support higher-risk athletic programs, and we used some of those funds to pay for athletic proximity monitors,” the statement reads. “We are using these monitors for high contact and moderate indoor contact sports.

"The monitors are for both staff (coaches) and students on the field, regardless if they are vaccinated or unvaccinated. If a student or coach tests positive, we will have immediate information regarding athletes’ and coaches’ contacts, so we can more tightly determine who might need to quarantine.”