CAIRO — Cairo High School Syrupmaker football practices are on hold for at least the next several days after multiple players tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

CHS athletic director Tom Fallaw said a football player was not allowed to practice last week after it was discovered that the player had come into contact with an individual who was awaiting test results for COVID-19. On August 12, it was discovered that the player in question had tested positive for the virus.

All practices were then shut down until Thursday, August 26.

“If we have people exposed, we’ll go home,” Fallaw said.

An additional player and coach have since also tested positive for the virus. Fallaw said the later positive cases will remain in quarantine for 14 days from their diagnosis and will miss any practices held during the interim. Head coach Steve Devoursney said a total of three players and two coaches have been diagnosed with the virus since testing began.

Syrupmakers had met for just a single day of practice last week before the quarantine was announced, just their second meeting since padded practices began August 6. Devoursney said a total of 11 practices will be missed due to the quarantine.

The question of what to do after the positive case was identified was never in dispute, Fallaw said.

“If we have active COVID cases and we’re out there tackling and blocking, that means that we’re physically touching people that have COVID,” the athletic director said. “That means we’re exposed if we have cases.

“We’re sending out kids home to adults and medically-fragile people,” he added. “We need to be conscious of others and not just ourselves.”

If a player tests positive for the virus, a scenario Fallaw said is likely to happen, CHS will follow guidelines from local health officials and the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Whether other football programs in the state are willing to take the same steps is something Fallaw said he was unsure of. The AD took issue with the Georgia High School Association (GHSA), the governing body for high school sports in Georgia, which he said is being unclear in its guidance and is not providing a firmer structure for what is expected out of member institutions. The result, he said, could put local school systems at risk.

Fallaw noted that other football programs dealing with the pandemic are only sending individuals home who have tested positive for the virus, but otherwise continue practicing even though other students and coaches may have been exposed.

“They’re picking and choosing what they use as their definition of ‘exposure,’” he said.

“Everybody is trying to figure out what system to operate under,” he added. “Ours in our county is going to be kid-first and it’s going to be safety-first.”

If local leaders determine that it is safe enough to return to school, Fallaw said, then extracurricular activities such as football will continue to be offered.

“If you ask the kids and their parents, they want to play sports,” he said.

The CHS football season is scheduled to kick off September 4 against Fitzgerald.