Lakeland suspends high school football because of COVID-19 case

LAKELAND, Fla. - The Lakeland Dreadnaughts are the latest high school football team to be sidelined by COVID-19.

Lakeland High School announced Tuesday that the program will be suspended for two weeks because of a coronavirus case, and the first two games of the season – against George Jenkins and Plant City – have been canceled. 

The Florida High School Athletic Association allowed campus athletics to resume this fall, against the advice of medical experts. As part of that approval, they issued guidance to local districts to suspend teams and programs if the virus begins to spread.

More than 70 people have tested positive on Polk County campuses since school opened a little more than two weeks ago. It’s unclear how many, if any, are children.

The school did not provide any more details about the positive case.

Lakeland High is the second football program to suspend games in Polk County. Discovery High School closed down its campus and suspended all fall sports last week. 

Last week, neighboring Hillsborough County temporarily suspended two football teams after student-athletes tested positive for coronavirus.