Ottawa Senators confirm first NHL player to test positive for coronavirus
Less than a week after the NHL suspended the 2019-20 season, an Ottawa Senators player became the league’s first athlete to test positive for the coronavirus, the team announced in a statement late Tuesday night.
The player, whom the team did not identify, has had mild symptoms and is in isolation. The Senators are in the process of notifying anyone who has had close contact with the athlete and are working with team doctors and public heath officials.
“As a result of this positive case, all members of the Ottawa Senators are requested to remain isolated, to monitor their health and seek advice from our team medical staff,” the team said in a statement.
The Senators’ last three games before the season went on pause Thursday were in San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles. Ottawa played in San Jose on March 7, one of the three games held at the SAP Center after officials in Santa Clara County recommended against holding large-gatherings events.
Before the news of the league’s first positive test, the NHL’s hope has been to still complete a full regular season and award the Stanley Cup in 2020.
The latest NHL directive sent out Monday told players, who previously were directed to remain in quarantine in their NHL cities, that they were allowed to go home, including to any foreign country. They must also remain in self-quarantine until March 27. The league also cited the CDC-recommended eight-week ban on large gatherings and proposed a best-case scenario of training camps reopening around late April
Earlier Tuesday, NBA superstar Kevin Durant also tested positive for the coronavirus, along with three other players on the Brooklyn Nets. That brought the confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the NBA to seven. According to the Nets, only one of the four players, who were not identified by the team, has exhibited symptoms.
The four Nets players joined Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, and Christian Wood of the Detroit Pistons, among those who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Gobert’s positive test led the NBA to suspend the season March 11.
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