In light of the news of six Washington state deaths due to the novel coronavirus, the high school sports governing board issued a statement that state basketball tournaments scheduled for Spokane, Tacoma and Yakima this week will go on as planned.

Attendance at each of the state venues – Spokane Arena, Tacoma Dome and Yakima SunDome – are all usually robust for the four-day tournaments, which start Wednesday with elimination games.

Washington Interscholastic Athletics Association (WIAA) announced the decision Monday to move forward with the events.

“There have been no changes to the schedule of the 2020 WIAA State Basketball Championships in Tacoma, Yakima and Spokane,” the release stated.

Regional round games scheduled at Jackson High School in Mill Creek over the weekend were moved to Shorecrest High School after a Jackson student tested positive for coronavirus. Several other schools in the Seattle area were closed on Monday due to concerns.

The Colville School District was closed on Monday as it awaited the results of a test for COVID-19, according to a release by the district, as were schools in Genesee and Troy, Idaho, after students in those schools interacted with Jackson students at the University of Idaho Hampton Jazz Festival over the weekend.

“There is a person under investigation for COVID-19 and we are awaiting test results,” the Colville School District release said. “Schools will be closed until we receive the test results. Testing could take from 1-3 days. As a precautionary measure the school district will use this time to disinfect the buildings.”

All spring sports, field trip, zero hour preschool and after school activities were canceled in Colville as well. Neither Colville basketball team qualified for the state basketball tourneys.

Defending State 4A champion Gonzaga Prep is scheduled to play in an elimination game at the Tacoma Dome on Wednesday.

“We’re going to continue as planned until otherwise notified,” G-Prep coach Matty McIntyre said.

“From everything I’ve read (about the situation) this sounds like it could be just the tip of the iceberg, which causes some amount of fear,” McIntyre said.

“If the tournaments were a week or two later than they are we might have had a better chance of them shutting down.”

WIAA said it is receiving advice about its events from the Washington health department.

“The safety of participants and fans is the primary focus of our organization and we encourage those planning to attend to follow the prevention guidelines distributed by the Center for Disease Control,” WIAA said in its news release.

The WIAA stated they have been working with arena staff at each of the three sites to disinfect high-touch areas with EPA approved disinfectant and increased hand sanitizer stations will be made available throughout each site.

As an extra preventive measure, the Washington State Department of Health has encouraged attendees of large events to spread out when possible.