Students of Wilsonville High School have faced yet another challenge regarding the latest restrictions implemented because of Covid-19. 

This past Memorial Day, Governor Brown along with the Oregon Health Authority(OHA), enacted the strictest measures concerning Covid-19 since March. With hospitals reporting 90% or higher capacities and Oregon itself logging record high numbers of daily cases, the state government has instituted a so-called “two-week pause” for the majority of Oregon counties, including our very own Clackamas County. 

In simplest terms, the new mandates limit public businesses to a 50-person maximum capacity, including both customers and staff, and it stops all visits to long-care medical facilities. The policies seem to be tightening the reins considerably as we head into the holiday, with Thanksgiving just over two weeks away. 

Governor Brown also addressed small, personal gatherings by pleading they include no more than six people. An OPB article written by Erin Ross explained that although there are increasingly high cases, the cases themselves are not from large gatherings or settings with a highly diverse germ-pool; in fact, he stated that it’s from “small social gatherings and one-on-one meetings.”  

For the students attending Wilsonville High School, albeit an online format, this basically means they are on even more of a lockdown. Senior Maura Schramm, a student-athlete for the Wildcats, spoke not only of the hardships regarding being a multi-sport athlete during Covid-19, but the fact that it is particularly emotionally challenging for upperclassmen.

Prior to Wednesday, November 11th, Schramm had been able to attend both her basketball and lacrosse practices while social distancing and wearing a mask. For practices themselves, players were placed in smaller cohorts and had to refrain from any high-contact drills. 

These practices have thus been canceled due to the new restrictions. Schramm and fellow lacrosse captain Avery Lanz had even been attempting to host a captain-led practice on that Thursday but consequently had to cancel it. 

To Schramm, this was not only a canceled practice, but further evidence that she would be unable to “give as much as I would like to them through captain-led activities–like I could if Covid wasn’t happening.” She elaborated that senior year for her means “stepping up and leading, especially to role model for underclassmen,” which at least for the near future, will definitely not be the case. 

The “two-week pause” is set to expire the eve of Thanksgiving, but if the cases and hospitalizations do not begin their descent, it is probable that not only will the “pause” stay implemented, but new limitations will be added as well.