As Alberta hospitals teeter toward collapse, medical experts want pro sports to limit crowds
There is tension surrounding professional sports in Alberta, including the upcoming NHL season, as health care providers in Alberta are concerned for the safety of both players and fans amid a punishing fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a story by TSN's Rick Westhead, more than a dozen infectious disease experts and doctors say now is not the time to have arenas full of fans.
"It is completely reckless to be hosting hockey games with 100 per cent capacity with 18,500 fans in a closed environment where we know that transmission flourishes," Dr. Ilan Schwartz, an infectious disease doctor in Edmonton, told CTV News.
Schwartz and the other doctors say Alberta's intensive care units are just a few patients away from having to choose who gets a bed and who does not. The province asked for federal support earlier this week to assist with the hospital crisis. According to the latest details from Canada's Department of Defence, that help is already on its way.
"This is, indeed, a huge crisis," said Dr. Noel Gibney.
"At the same time we want to have the Flames and Oilers (play) to full stadiums, we're looking at a situation where the province is begging other provinces, such as Ontario, to take air transfers from our ICUs to creat capacity," he said.
There are also forgery concerns given how easily the province's downloadable vaccine passport is to alter.
Calgary Sport and Entertainment Corporation, which owns and operates the Calgary Flames, Calgary Stampeders, Calgary Hitmen and Calgary Roughnecks, has unveiled its vaccination policy and will utilize Portpass, a Calgary-made app that was also used for entry to Nashville North during the Calgary Stampede.
Users upload some identification and vaccination information and receive a code to scan for entry.
"We've tried to be leaders in the community in terms of, you know, supporting anything health initiative-wise to make sure that we can keep everybody, not only our fans, but everyone in the provinces as healthy as we possibly can," Flames GM Brad Treliving told reporters on Wednesday.
Edmonton Oilers ownership also requires proof of vaccines or negative test result and face masks.
The Flames host the Oilers on Sunday for a preseason game. The team expects capacity for its four home preseason games to be between 60 and 70 per cent. A spokesperson did not answer whether limited capacity will be considered for regular season games.
Cavalry FC tested its vaccination protocol at Spruce Meadows Wednesday when the team hosted Pacific FC.
Cavalry spectators were among the first Alberta fans to be checked for vaccination or a negative test result from within 48 hours. Face masks are required indoors, encouraged outdoors.
The vaccination status of professional athletes continues to be a concern.
While the entire Flames roster is double-dosed, Edmonton Oiler Josh Archibald is not immunized.
Another Oiler, Duncan Keith is still in quarantine after receiving his second shot and has missed some of training camp.
Ken Holland, the Oilers GM and president of hockey operations, says unvaccinated players could miss a significant amount of games given cross border travel restrictions and quarantine measures.
The NHL does not have a vaccine mandate for players but there are restrictions.
There are now 1,058 COVID-19 patients in Alberta hospitals including 226 in ICU.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Angst and calls for resting places as Surrey, B.C., pet cemetery development continues
A single headstone is all that remains of dozens of markers for long-buried pets in a subdivision in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood, where a half-acre parcel bears a large sign announcing the proposed construction of new homes.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.