The rise in COVID-19 cases in Eastern Connecticut continued to play havoc with sports schedules in the region.
On Friday, New London Mayor Michael Passero announced the city would be canceling all athletic events scheduled on city-owned fields or venues effective Monday. The Miles for Military road race on Nov. 14 was also canceled.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Connecticut Conference announced the cancelation of its cross country championships, which were set to be run on Nov. 4 at Harkness State Park in Waterford and at Woodstock Academy.
The Day of New London reported ECC squads would be given one more dual meet instead.
The day before, the ECC announced it would be postponing its football combine, which was set to go off at New London High School on Saturday.
New London County, like much of Connecticut, has seen an uptick of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations over the last few weeks. The county’s rate of infection per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks is 20.4, according to the New York Times data tracker. The City of New London’s two-week rate is 47.7 per 100,000, according to Oct. 30 figures released by the Connecticut Dept. of Health.
“The City of New London continues to take a collaborative and unified approach in coordination with community partners and regional health officials to slow the latest surge of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Our goal is to preserve the health and safety of residents and public employees as the pandemic continues to challenge our community,” the New London Mayor’s office said in its statement.
Twelve towns in Eastern Connecticut, including New London, have been coded red by the DPH for having a rate of 15-or-more cases per 100,000.
Overall, Connecticut’s positive testing rate for Oct. 30 dropped to 2.5% from a high of 6.1% on Thursday. There has been an average 20 cases per 100,000 state residents over the last two weeks.
