Sports is being impacted.
The COVID-19 news out of Canada has not been very good for the sports world and there is a question that needs to be addressed. How will the National Hockey League handle its 2021 playoffs? American teams have now unlimited access to COVID-19 vaccines. the seven Canadian teams have had far less access to COVID-19 vaccines. The exact date of the start of the playoffs is yet to be determined because of the Vancouver Canucks COVID-19 outbreak. The season will be extended and then there is the question of can Canadian teams compete in the United States and can United States teams go into Canada with the US-Canadian border shut until May 21st. Another complicating factor, the United States Department of State has placed Canada on a travel advisory, level 4, do not travel to Canada due to COVID-19 list. Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays franchise is not playing any games in the city for the foreseeable future. Major League Soccer’s three Canadian teams Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver are temporarily based in the United States. The National Basketball Association’s Toronto Raptors franchise is playing out the season in Tampa, Florida.
The pandemic news got progressively worse in Canada. Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a stay-at-home order on April 8th, which has been extended through May 20th because the province is posting a record-high COVID-19 amount of cases. The Ontario Hockey League shut down its season stating the current COVID-19 situation in the province “make it impossible for the OHL to have a season.” The Canadian Hockey League cancelled its junior championship between the winners of the Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and a host city, a host city that would have been in Ontario. Swim Canada is just hoping to get an Olympics’ trial event in.
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