Red means stop, and that’s what happened to eight high schools in Worcester on Sept. 16, two days before athletes and coaches across the state were set to launch a twice-delayed start to the fall sports season.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health released its weekly report on COVID-19 data that day and an increase in the number of cases per 100,000 pushed Worcester from the yellow (moderate risk) to the red (highest) category.

Tyngsboro was also placed in the red on Sept. 16 and was joined by Marlboro on Sept. 23.

Per DPH guidelines, schools in communities in the red are barred from participating in sports. So that was clear.

What was cloudy was when schools, like in Worcester and Tyngsboro, could finally start or, in the case of Marlboro, which began holding tryouts or workouts as scheduled on the 18th, resume in-person training after going into the red.

“Everyone has been outstanding working with this, trying to figure out what to do, how to do it, when to do it,” St. Paul athletic director Jim Manzello said. “But there are so many moving parts.”

Burncoat, Doherty, Main South, North, South, Worcester Tech, and Notre Dame Academy along with St. Paul are the schools impacted in Worcester. (Abby Kelly has moved all fall sports to the fall II season.)

On Monday, the chairs of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s nine districts met for the second time in eight days to address the matter.

After agreeing guidance the MIAA issued last Tuesday was ambiguous, the district athletic chairs came up with a simple solution to clearly define the minimum requisite timeline a district or school in the red must adhere to as it seeks to get the green light to go.

“So what we said was the three-week window would begin when a school enters into the red,” said Nipmuc Regional athletic director Chris Schmidt, who chairs District 2, which includes schools in Worcester. “The guidance from the state is they should stop playing and then take three weeks of data.”

Worcester’s metrics have gone from 7.5 on Sept. 9, when it was in comfortably in the yellow, to 9.5 on Sept. 16, when it easily entered the red (8-plus cases per 100,000), and back down to 8.9 on Sept. 23.

The next set of data will be released Wednesday.

Should Worcester return to yellow, athletics would be allowed to start up. However, if it remains in the red for a third straight week, it doesn’t necessarily mean cross-country runners, golfers, and field hockey and soccer players will remain idle.

If the numbers continue to trend down in a way districts and schools are comfortable with, they could seek out the approval of city officials to begin practicing.

“The Department of Public Health with our superintendent (Marueen Binienda) would make the final call,” Worcester Public Schools athletic director Dave Shea said.

“So, for instance, if it was trending in a positive direction and it was close, but still in the red it would ultimately be up to the superintendent and the Department of Public Health to say you can’t start up practices or you can.”

It’s worth pointing out Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty issued an executive order Friday that keeps restaurant dining restrictions in place that had been eased two days earlier by Gov. Charlie Baker until the city moves from red to yellow.

So it could be the same course of action is taken with regard to athletics.

That said, golf courses are already open and runners can be spotted on a daily basis across New England’s second-largest city while field hockey and soccer have already implemented multiple modifications to make their sports safer for players, coaches, support personnel, and officials.

—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @RichGarvenTG.