Hawaiʻi Youth Softball Using Free Wellness Tracker To Screen for COVID-19

As the summer softball season begins to heat up, USA Softball of Hawaii/Oʻahu Junior Olympics has instituted mandatory COVID-19 screenings for more than 1,200 players, umpires and coaches using ALTRES’ Wellness Tracker.

The app offers screening and tracking, with technology built in Hawaiʻi by ALTRES (an employment and administration company) and provided free to the community from the ALTRES Foundation.

“We are so pleased to be able to offer this free service to Hawaiʻi – whether it’s local companies, schools, youth sports or any other kind of regular gathering where we must screen for COVID-19 and track who was where,” said Siana Hunt, ALTRES Foundation Director of Corporate Philanthropy.

Each team is assigned a Wellness Tracker account, with players’ names and email addresses, at www.wellnesstracker.com. Players are then required to check in and perform self-monitoring by answering a few questions prior to every game as part of Oʻahu Junior Olympics mandatory COVID-19 reporting. The results are then gathered by the team’s Health Manager, who serves as a liaison to the OJOs Health Officer, Andrew Garrett.

USA Softball of Hawaii/Oʻahu Junior Olympics also follows all protocols for COVID-19, including social distancing, mandatory masks, and a prohibition on spectators and gatherings to ensure maximum safety for participants.

In the event of exposure or illness, the information is reported to the Department of Health so contact tracing and follow up can be performed.

Last year, all the reporting was done on paper. With more than 1,200 players representing 55 teams, umpires and coaches, users of the app say the Wellness Tracker has made mandatory reporting much simpler.

“It’s the easiest way for us to monitor COVID,” said Mia Rodrigues, the Youth League Junior Olympic Commissioner. “I can look at a specific day and we can access everybody’s account to verify and stay on top of it. It’s super easy. Most of the things we learned from ALTRES. Everybody must participate, including players, coaches and umpires.”

For youth softball, all participants must conduct a daily symptom assessment (self-evaluation). Anyone experiencing two or more COVID-19 related symptoms identified by the Centers for Disease Control (including coughing, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fever over 100.4 degrees, chills, headaches, sore throat, runny nose, and/or new loss of taste of smell), must stay home.

Coaches must immediately inform the OJO Health Officer, Andrew Garrett if someone on their team (or an immediate household member of that team member) has tested positive for COVID-19. OJO will contact the Department of Health to investigate the situation. That team’s activities will be suspended until DOH’s investigation is complete.

For USA Softball of Hawaiʻi/Oʻahu Junior Olympics, the summer season is just opening up for kids between the ages of 5-18.