The 28th annual Thanksgiving Day Football Game between Mt. Hope High School and Barrington High School has been postponed a week due to an outbreak of positive COVID cases within the Mt. Hope population.

“We have been working closely with the RI Department Of Health’s COVID-19 Unit,” said Mt. Hope Principal Dr. Deb DiBiase in an emailed statement. “Due to positive Covid cases, and the resulting impact on the Mt. Hope High School Football Team, it was determined that the Thanksgiving Day Football Game against Barrington HS be rescheduled for Thursday, Dec. 2, at 6:00 p.m. at Victory Field in Barrington. Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving.”

The postponement came a day after an email was sent out to parents and employees of Mt. Hope on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 23 regarding an outbreak of four positive cases that was discovered that morning. The school was put on a “pause,” with students engaging in online learning on Wednesday as a result to enable the school to perform contact tracing.

“Please understand that we are doing this in the best interest of students, families, faculty and staff,” DiBiase said in a statement to families regarding the outbreak. “I understand that it is not ideal, but feel that it’s in the best way for us to safeguard the entire MHHS community to the best of our ability.

It could not be immediately determined if there was a common source of the outbreak, or if any members of the Mt. Hope football team were among those who tested positive.