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
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.