They are just buying themselves time to set better protocols.
First order of business, for all sports league, should be mandatory vaccination for ALL players, ALL personnel and ALL fans attending games. Here in Quebec, 50% of the cases are unvaccinated people, 66% of the hospitalizations are unvaccinated people... they are less than 15% of the population (so the number of cases/hospitalizations they represent is VERY VERY VERY disproportional to their percentage of the population... which proves the vaccine freaking works ie it does with it is supposed to do SLOW DOWN THE DAMN THING!).
Unvaccinated people have a longer incubation period, so they spread it longer. If everyone is vaccinated, I think you can afford to have asymptomatic players continue to play. Sure, there would still be a risk of some getting long COVID, but zero risk does not exist and getting vaccinated + the booster reduces the risk of serious illness by over 80%. So throw the Tyler Bertuzzis, Kyrie Irvings and Aaron Rodgerses out and get back to playing. Government should not force you to get vaccinated, but a private employer totally can. They won't because it would alienate a portion of their fanbase, but they could and should.
Slightly off topic but I feel it’s somewhat relevant regarding long covid.
Three years ago I contracted a virus ( Doctor suspected EBV). I was and still am severely debilitated by this acute viral infection. I’m losing my ability to walk, I can hardly hold my phone above my head due to muscles weakness , I can’t turn my head without eventually losing consciousness , walk more than 10 minutes or even be upright long before I collapse. I played hockey three times a week to this.
All from a virus.
Turns out , the inflammation and mast cell degranulation triggered by the virus severely weakened the connective tissue in the craniocervical junction. My skull is sinking into my spine , for simplicity sake. And on top of that my spinal cord became tethered due to mcas and inflammation - which I’m receiving surgery for in the states in the coming months. I’ll need a fusion to support the skull for hopefully a full recovery.
Long covid sufferers develop POTS, MCAS major fatigue, things I’m living ever day. (Not saying all who develop long covid have my issue , many do , not close to enough research on post viral ME exists)
The vaccines aren’t protecting people from Long Covid. There’s no good answer how to deal with long covid. The medical community as a large doesn’t care about it, the media ignores it.
I don’t even remember what my point is, maybe just a general sadness that it’s not considered typically when major decisions are being made. The NHL sure isn’t. I don’t know what they should do, there’s no escaping it
