MONTPELIER — The fate of high school winter sports remains up in the air, as Gov. Phil Scott on Tuesday said the ongoing spike of COVID-19 cases is too serious to allow state health officials to green-light the season.
“Our data does not support the return of school or recreational sports at this time,” Scott said at his Dec. 8 news conference. “I will continue to evaluate this each week.”
Scott has already announced at recent conferences a delay of preseason practices originally scheduled to begin on Nov. 30. Competitions in most sports remain scheduled to open on Jan. 11, and school officials believe they could open the season at or close to that date if practices could begin as late as after the holiday break.
This past Thursday saw the Vermont Department of Health report a single-day state record of 224 cases of coronavirus. 
Although daily numbers have dropped since then, Scott also cited an increase of the virus found in Burlington’s wastewater and remaining uncertainty over the impact of multi-family gatherings and travel from the recent Thanksgiving holiday. 
“We have to get that two-week period after Thanksgiving to evaluate (data). We’ll know a lot more a week from now,” Scott said.