Doctors condemn plans for packed arenas in reeling Alberta
https://www.tsn.ca/doctors-condemn-p...erta-1.1696894
More than a dozen infectious disease and critical care doctors are calling on the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers to drop plans to play games in full-capacity arenas this season as the province of Alberta lurches into an unprecedented medical crisis amid the fourth wave of COVID-19.
“This is about to be a nightmare like we’ve never seen before,” said Dr. Noel Gibney, an Edmonton critical-care doctor with four decades of experience working in ICUs
It’s jarring that we are asking other provinces to take our patients and at the same time having full hockey arenas that will lead to further spread of COVID-19.”
"It's reckless, and irresponsible for our province, as well as the Oilers and Flames, to be acting like nothing is going on, like our health-care system is normal,"
"They did it with no fans for a while and they can go back to it without too much trouble," Dr. Silverman said. "These are extreme times. In Alberta, they're now talking about bringing in emergency protocols for resuscitation, meaning that if someone's heart stops, a doctor may not resuscitate them because if they resuscitate them, they don't have an ICU bed to put them in.
"[The Oilers and Flames] have to be good citizens. They're supposed to be playing for the pride of the city, not helping the city go down the drain... The message the NHL is sending is, 'It's okay that you can't get your cancer surgery, but it's not okay if fans miss a game that they can watch at home on TV. That's just too much to ask.'"
I think they're right. the Oilers and Flames should ban fans from the pre season at the very least. especially how easy it is to fake the crappy paper "passport" the UCP has offered.