Dartmouth High School sports are on pause this week due to skyrocketing Covid cases in town, according to a Jan. 11 release from Athletic Director Andrew Crisafulli.

Crisafulli postponed all in-person athletic activities until Jan. 19 after the town’s Board of Health announced 300 new Covid cases in Dartmouth in the week ending Jan. 8.

The decision will affect the only two winter sports approved to go ahead this season: Hockey and basketball.

“This difficult decision is driven by the amount of positive cases within the Dartmouth community and what is in the best interest of the health and well-being of our student-athletes,” he wrote in the release.

Postponed games will be rescheduled in conjunction with league schools, with the adjustments finalized “soon,” Crisafulli noted.

At the same time, Music Director Ian Flint said that the high school band’s percussion and color guard groups will continue to rehearse.

“Athletics has some obstacles such as shared equipment and contact with people outside our community that we do not have to deal with,” he stated. “We will continue to monitor the situation on a day to day basis.”

This article has been updated to include comments from Dartmouth High Music Director Ian Flint.