School Asks Forgiveness for COVID-Oblivious Football Event After Photos Draw Scathing Reactions

An Oklahoma school district provided an apology Sunday after facing scathing backlash for posting an image of a football event showing trainees and professional athletes neither using masks nor social distancing. There were too numerous high school students without masks and too many high school trainees in close contact with one another,” Jenks Public Schools wrote in a Facebook post.

The apology provided on Sunday comes a day after the school’s Facebook page revealed a photo of students and professional athletes celebrating a recent victory, relatively oblivious to mitigation efforts versus the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The post on Saturday featured four pictures showing players, coaches, personnel, cheerleaders and trainees crowded together on the field and in the stands, with very couple of masks in sight.

After publishing the image on Saturday, the school faced harsh reaction, with many members of the neighborhood criticizing the school for enabling the event to go on in the middle of increasing cases, deaths and hospitalizations related to COVID-19

” Incredibly self-centered,” one Facebook user wrote, while another remark read, “Their health care workers are overwhelmed, tired and some passing away, but let’s fill the stadium for a super-spreader video game!

An Oklahoma school district apologized Sunday for a COVID-oblivious football event after pictures it posted online drew scathing responses. Here, an empty class is seen on August 13 in California.
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty

While speaking with the Daily Beast, Elise Ramsey, a 22- year-old alum of Jenks High School and a present trainee at the University of Tulsa, stated, “Health specialists have been publicly pleading the community to do whatever we can to slow spread for several weeks now,” including that she was “horrified” by the post.

Jenks Public Schools directed Newsweek to the apology provided on Sunday and said it had no further comment at this time.

According to the health department of Tulsa County, where Jenks lies, there are presently more than 36,000 confirmed COVID cases, in addition to at least 289 deaths, in the county. Oklahoma does not have a statewide mask required in location, however several counties, including Tulsa, have enforced citywide mask mandates in the middle of the ongoing pandemic.

Newsweek reached out to the health department for remark but did not receive an action in time for publication.

COVID cases and deaths have actually continued to increase across Oklahoma. Data from the state’s health department reveals more than 218,000 confirmed cases and at least 1,911 deaths.