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Maple Leafs Auston Matthews Has Tested Positive for COVID-19

Here’s some news that cannot be good for Toronto Maple Leafs fans. One of the team’s brightest stars – Auston Matthews – has just been reported to have tested positive for COVID-19. This news comes from a number of sources, but the genesis of the story seems to have been released first by the Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons.

Honestly, do you think we’ve all become a bit cavalier about this pandemic? I don’t mean to go all political here, but the United States push to reopen the economy (most pundits think in the face of US President Donald Trump’s fear of losing the upcoming 2020 election) has jeopardized the health of many. Indeed, the two states that seem to be leading the charge towards opening are both Arizona and Florida and we know what the news is from each of these states.

Specifically, the Tampa Bay Lightning team has confirmed that three of its players and a number of other staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 and now the news coming from Arizona is not good either. First, all Maple Leafs fans worry about their players – as they should for players on other teams who have also tested positive. However, today’s news isn’t good for the NHL or other professional sports teams who wish to reopen their seasons in the mirror of this very dangerous COVID-19 outbreak.

In Simmon’s report, he also notes that members of the Arizona Coyotes might also have tested positive for COVID-19. Not good. The word on Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen, who’s been staying with Matthews in his Arizona home is that Andersen tested negative for COVID-19 and isn’t staying with Matthews any longer.

Re-opening the NHL Season Isn’t the Biggest Problem

The impact that this announcement has had on the season’s possible reopening isn’t the most important news. This is not a sports issue about lost revenue – either by the players or the league. It’s a health issue and the recovery of those players and staff is the most pressing problem. It’s not complex. COVID-19 can be deadly, and people have it. That these people are NHL players and staff simply makes it more personal for fans.

We suspect, as strong and healthy as Matthews is, that with the medical treatment he gets he will recover. However, it doesn’t seem likely his play to return to Toronto before any opening of training camp on July 10 seems unlikely now. His recovery and quarantine will undoubtedly put such plans on hold.

All This Said, What’s Next?

As I noted, the main issue is the recovery of these people who have contracted the virus. That said, this announcement might make plans for further discussion about whether the NHL should really be continuing to plan a season resumption more difficult. Obviously, the report today makes any re-opening problematic.

As well, it raises the question once again about allowing people from other countries such as the United States, where the disease seems more out-of-control, into Canada. The numbers of COVID-91 cases reported each new day must be and should be alarming for those of us who live in Canada. There simply is no quarantine protocol enforcement in place.

We Canadians will see how the Governor-General of Canada, who recently worked with the NHL on a “cohort quarantine” that allowed league members to bypass the 14-day quarantine upon entering Canada, might respond to this change.

We will offer further news when we get it.

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