High School Football Player Hospitalized With COVID-19

A high school football player in Louisiana has been hospitalized after being diagnosed with COVID-19, a case that some say may highlight the risks involved in returning to the field and court during a pandemic.   

Jacob Lemaire is an offensive lineman at Teurlings Catholic High School in Lafayette. He was hospitalized, along with his brother, after developing pneumonia following a COVID-19 diagnosis.

Tricia Lemaire, Jacob’s mother, told USA Today that Jacob "is still on oxygen but he's doing really well." Jacob's older brother, Mark, is on a ventilator.

Jacob has been practicing with his team for about a month before he was infected with COVID-19.

"He works out a lot and he is in good shape,'' Jacob’s mother said. "So that was kind of shocking, that it hit him that hard. Hard enough to be hospitalized. And now I don’t know. I don’t know what to think. It is very scary to me.’’

Jacob’s hospitalization comes as high schools across the country mull their options for fall sports. Some have even considered swapping spring and fall seasons.

“I really think in the next couple of weeks you’re going to see a lot of decisions,’’ Bruce Howard, spokesman for the National Federation of State High School Associations told USA Today. “You may have some states that in three or four weeks are going to be just fine to start football as normal. Maybe you’ll have some states that can’t.

“Certainly there’s been some talk about the concept of swapping fall and spring seasons, and I think that the more they think about that the more complex that becomes. You can see the thinking caps are certainly hard at work.’’ 

Another Teurlings football player has now tested positive for COVID-19 as the team readies for its opening game on Sept. 5.