Oxford, Mass., is now facing a significant decision: whether to cancel evening activities due to the spreading threat of EEE. The virus is affecting Oxford and other Massachusetts communities.
As more mosquitoes test positive for Eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, one Massachusetts community is considering taking drastic action to keep residents safe.
Officials in Oxford have a controversial solution that limits risk but could ruin a lot of plans.
Four towns — Douglas, Oxford, Sutton and Webster — are at critical risk for the mosquito-borne illness after a man in his 80s contracted it in Worcester County, the Department of Public Health said last week.
And now the fall youth sports seasons for soccer, football and cheer are getting underway.
But with the state's first confirmed human case of EEE, multiple towns that are at critical or high risk are beginning to impose a curfew of sorts to limit exposure to infected mosquitos when they're most active from dusk until dawn.
The Oxford Board of Health is expected to vote Wednesday on banning all outdoor activities after 6 p.m. on town property through September, and after 5 p.m. in October.
Webster is imposing a similar curfew and did town-wide spraying for mosquitoes Tuesday night.
Obviously, limiting outdoor activities after 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. seriously hampers practice times for youth sports, which takes place after school and usually after parents get home from work.
The president of Oxford Webster Youth Football & Cheer Program said with practices from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., this essentially ends their season before it started.
Parents of the young athletes say while they take the risks seriously, they think they should be able to decide whether their children practice outside.
"I think it's going to be hard right now to secure an indoor space when it comes to football, you're talking about hundreds and hundreds of kids in a small space, and it's just — I don't think there's going to be a space that's able to accommodate us right now," said Heidi Pizzotti, Oxford-Webster football parent.
"Three years ago, we shut down the whole, we already affected these children's lives in that aspect and now we're going to shut down sports for them as well, too?" said Greta Keegan, Oxford-Webster cheer parent.
The Board of Health meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
