Ninety-one people at a high school in Shimane Prefecture have tested positive in recent days for the novel coronavirus in a cluster outbreak centered on the boys’ soccer team, according to local authorities.

Of the total, 88 are members of the soccer team at the coeducational Rissho Shonan High School in the city of Matsue, and 82 of them live in the same dormitory. The team has played matches outside the prefecture since late July, fueling concerns about a wider spread of the virus. The cluster of infections at the school, detected over the three-day holiday through Monday, raised the total number of novel coronavirus cases in Shimane Prefecture to 126. All 91 people who tested positive at the school have either no symptoms or only mild symptoms of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, the authorities said. In addition to soccer club members, two teachers involved with the team and a baseball player at the school, which has a total of 350 students and staff members, were found to be infected with the virus. The first case, which involved a soccer player, was confirmed Saturday. A man in his 70s who visited the dorm and three members of his family have also tested positive for the virus. The students and teachers infected at the school have been hospitalized or remain at the dorm, the authorities said.

Source: ANNnewsCH