PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The Pennsylvania Department of Health released new guidelines Tuesday for 'safe gathering limits' across the Commonwealth amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the highlights are definitions of what an event or gathering is defined as by the Department of Health, how businesses must conduct business, and an amendment to two sections of the July 15 mitigation orders that will now include a "maximum occupancy calculator" for both indoor and outdoor events.
Of course, this raises the question of how this affects the prospective spectators of high school sports across the state.
Meanwhile parents are reacting to the news, and some are excited at the chance to watch their kids play.
Including Cristi Hinderer, whose son, lineman Lake Hinderer is a Senior at Central York.
Hinderer has been anxiously looking forward to the season's kick off, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she has yet to attend one of her son's games this year.
This weekend, that will finally change.
"Definitely I will be excited," Hinderer said. "I'll probably even cry. I think I'll probably cry a little bit when I see we are at the game."
Starting this Friday, each player will be given 4 spectator passes to be able to attend home games only. Hinderer is no doubt grateful, but is still angry about not being able to see her son play up until now, and the fact that Central York has already had to missed 3 out-of-district games because of COVID-19 restrictions.
"I think the problem with the whole thing is that we're not consistent," Hinderer said. "It's not been consistent. And that's what really frustrates us."
The School District admits the whole process has been confusing.
In a statement it said to us, "It's been an ever-changing fall sports season for school districts based on different guidelines coming forth at the state level. We are excited to have spectators this Friday and hope we can continue to have a positive fall sports experience for our athletes and families."
For now, this skeptical mom is still crossing her fingers.
"Until I have that ticket in my hand, and I'm walking through that gate, I think we'll all know that, 'okay, this is going to work,'" Hinderer said.
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) is set to hold a Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday, October 7 at 2:00 p.m.
It is not immediately known how the Department of Health's announcement will affect those proceedings or any athletics scheduled for this week.