The New England Small College Athletic Conference announced Wednesday that it will temporarily limit spectators at indoor athletic events to people who are part of host schools' COVID-19 testing protocols.
This means that only students, faculty, and staff at schools hosting sporting events will be able to attend events until at least the end of January. Spectators associated with away teams cannot attend athletic events at other schools.
Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Bates College in Lewiston, and Colby College in Waterville are all NESCAC members.
NESCAC officials posted the following update on the conference's website Wednesday:
"In light of the rapid onset of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, NESCAC institutions will temporarily require that spectators at indoor NESCAC athletic events be restricted to individuals who are part of the host institution's testing protocol. This policy is in effect until the end of January. We hope that the testing, vaccination, and other mitigation measures in use on all our campuses will allow us to keep case numbers low. The Conference will review this policy on a regular basis in the hope that conditions will allow us to return to our usual policies on spectators. Updates will be provided as soon as information is available.
All NESCAC institutions also strongly encourage athletes to get a booster before returning to campus."
The updated policy comes as the United States has seen a rapid spread of the omicron variant since the beginning of December. The variant's properties are yet not fully understood by scientists.
