Canucks: Timing is everything to eventually reach approved fan plan
In the court of public opinion, timing is everything.
Any ambitious fan plan for Rogers Arena in the midst of heightened coronavirus concerns — Adam Gaudette testing positive as the province is in a three-week, circuit-breaker protocol to combat a rapid rise in case counts — can be considered putting a caboose at the front of the priority train.
However, at some point, the Vancouver Canucks can envision a safe means of pre-game testing, distanced cohort arena pods and limited food and beverage options in restricted locations for their fans. And so can Dr. Brian Conway, president and medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre.
Although any project requires federal and provincial health authority approval — and limits on the number who could attend an indoor event — there are examples of what could eventually work here. Dr. Conway cited a successful indoor concert in Barcelona last weekend, despite Spain being in the top 10 of COVID-19 cases.
The event was staged in a large arena and allowed 5,000 patrons. They were administered a rapid virus test on the day of the concert and those who returned a positive result were given refunds. Those who tested negative received a code to enter the arena with masks to be worn at all times. They were seated among three cohort groupings of approximately 1,600 with no interaction between pods. Food and beverages were only consumed at safe spaced locations.
Those patrons are now being closely monitored for any COVID-19 symptoms over the next two weeks.
“An ambitious pilot project and also an important one and I really do think it could work here,” said Dr. Conway. “They also did a smaller test event in Barcelona with only 500 attending and it was found to be safe.”
Spain has the eighth-most COVID cases and on Monday the country reported 6,100 new infections in a population of 46 million. By comparison, Canada reported 4,500 cases on the same day for a population of 37 million.
“In Barcelona, they’re keeping information on individuals because they had to register,” added Dr. Conway. “If cases develop, they will do aggressive contact tracing. This is not the approach that has been taken in the U.S., where they’ve just gone on formulas based on reduced occupancy in percentage of total capacity for the venue.
“We need to be smarter and consistent with Canadian guidelines, if we’re going to do this.”
The discussion of any fan plan becomes moot if there’s uncontrolled community spread. Spiking case numbers in B.C., along with arrival of aggressive virus variants, suggest planning and execution are a matter of a moving timeline. And so is the Canucks’ schedule.
After returning Wednesday from the league’s mandated six-day break, the Canucks have seven home dates before their regular-season schedule concludes May 8. And with playoffs a long shot, the odds of getting a fan plan approved and running in short order are long.
However, even one successful experience after the circuit-breaker might set the bar for next season, if there’s federal and provincial health approval.
“They’ve shown some flexibility with reduction in the quarantine period (14 to seven days) for players traded from the U.S. to Canada,” stressed Dr. Conway, who is also a Canucks season-ticket subscriber and has forwarded the fan concept. “I think they’re open to some flexibility, if it makes sense. Of all the steps we would take, and in a proof of concept, it obviously has been done in Barcelona.”
Still, any fan plan enthusiasm comes with a caveat because players are increasingly at risk and so are games.
A Montreal Canadiens forward tested positive for a variant on March 22. All club activities were halted for eight days and Joel Armia remains on the COVID list. Earlier this week, B.C. health researchers detected more than 200 cases of the P1 variant, more than doubling the previous number in the province.
“Variants are more contagious and cause more severe disease in younger people to be hospitalized,” said Dr. Conway. “It would be a shame if we had young professional athletes who may develop long-lasting diseases that would potentially end their careers. “We need to be very cautious.”
On Monday, the provincial circuit-breaker was announced. Indoor restaurant dining is suspended but patios will remain open. Establishments serving food and alcohol have switched to takeout or delivery services. Adult group fitness along with indoor worship are also suspended.
“We already know from surveys that over half of British Columbians admit to not following rules all the time, said Dr. Conway. “Part of it is COVID fatigue and part of it is that it’s not leading to transmission. If we start taking away certain behaviours that were probably quite safe, my concern is people are not going to follow new rules.
“People have decided if I can’t go out, I’ll invite people over because they still want to have dinner with friends. If would help if we had figures from restaurants to drive home that closing (indoor dining) is completely justified and not unfair. That’s what I’m looking for in the coming days to make this a team effort.”
Dr. Conway has a residence in Whistler and is aware of what has driven COVID numbers in the resort town to close skill hills.
“There was good control and the numbers had gone down about 75 per cent and all employees were being offered a vaccine,” he noted. “What potentially happened, is young people age 20-39 respected most of the rules most of the time and it wasn’t leading to any transmission.
“Some were living in cramped quarters and shared accommodations and combining bubbles too much.
“They felt they had achieved a balance. Add to that mix a variant that is twice as transmissible and it makes each of these behaviours more dangerous. And the same applies to some of the hockey players. No transmissions and doing some things that aren’t exactly according to the rules, but when you put variants into the mix, it’s more dangerous and you get more cases.”
bkuzma@postmedia.com
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