PIAA says skip handshakes, but championships still on schedule despite coronavirus concerns

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, March 9, 2020 | 7:58 PM

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Elbow bumps could replace handshakes.

Otherwise, the PIAA plans to conduct its state basketball playoffs and swimming championships as scheduled after consulting with the Pa. Department of Health regarding coronavirus concerns.

Health officials aren’t calling for public events or community gatherings to be cancelled, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said Monday.

“We’ve worked very closely in the last few days with the Department of Health,” Lombardi said. “I’ve talked with them daily, and they keep hitting me with the same mantra: ‘One case doesn’t make a community outbreak.’ ”

The PIAA shared information regarding coronavirus preparations on its website Monday. It encouraged the use of good health habits, such as washing hands frequently and replacing pregame and postgame handshakes with statistically safer alternatives.

“The amount of germs that are transmitted in a handshake are astronomically higher than a fist bump or forearm bump or an elbow bump,” Lombardi said.

The PIAA had 96 boys and girls basketball games scheduled at gyms across the state Tuesday and Wednesday. There are four playoff rounds remaining including 12 championship games March 19-21 at Giant Center in Hershey.

The PIAA swimming championships start Wednesday at Bucknell University.

“We believe (the sites) where our games are being held are doing a great job sanitizing the facility and being ready,” Lombardi said.

However, the PIAA wants school administrators, coaches, athletes and spectators to closely monitor their health.

“The biggest issue is if a person has some type of illness, whether it could possibly be this (coronavirus) or even the flu, they should stay home,” said Lombardi, who was scheduled Monday to join a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conference call for sports organizations.

As of 4 p.m. Monday, there were 10 presumptive positive cases of covid-19 in Pennsylvania, all on the eastern side of the state. Delaware, Monroe and Wayne counties had one case each, and Montgomery County had seven, according to the Pa. Department of Health website.

Should the situation worsen in the coming days, the PIAA has discussed contingency plans, Lombardi said. Giant Center has limited flexibility, but the basketball championships could be rescheduled, if that was recommended by health officials.

Competing without fans wouldn’t be a likely option.

“We would hope it wouldn’t get to that,” Lombardi said. “As long as that number (of presumptive positive cases) is pretty low, I don’t think we would (close the arena to fans). But if we did have schools that had situations, I think we would ask the schools to monitor their fans. This is the end of somebody’s career, and mom and dad want to see them. That’s a tough thing to do.”

The PIAA update included preventative advice from health officials to wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water is unavailable. Also, frequently touched surfaces should be cleaned often.

“Our facilities are well equipped with items to assist in sanitation of hands,” Lombardi said. “The Giant Center has (hand sanitizer) all over the place. On top of that, we’re also working with the maintenance staff, making sure the facility is as clean as possible by making repetitive rounds through the facility itself.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.