Vancouver Canucks’ dire COVID-19 situation sobering reminder of current reality

What’s happening with the Vancouver Canucks right now should be a reminder that we aren’t out of the woods just yet.

It is a pretty dire situation for the Vancouver Canucks who now have 14 players on the NHL’s COVID-19 list and, as a result, they have had four games through April 6 by the NHL, and it is incredibly likely that more could follow given the severity of the situation.

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It isn’t just that 14 Canucks are in the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol, but rather that the outbreak in Vancouver’s facility spiralled out of control rapidly and it has been pretty terrifying to watch the whole situation worsen over the last week.

For instance, Farhan Lalji of TSN reported on Friday that some players have been put on IVs by the team’s medical staff, with some players and coaches suffering with painful coughs, chills, high fevers and other not very nice symptoms, throwing the theory that you will be fine if you are young, fit and healthy firmly out of the window.

It is also worth noting that the P.1 variant of COVID-19 – the variant that is more widely known as the Brazilian variant – has spiked in Vancouver as of late and it has been found to infect those who have already tested positive for the virus, as was the case for Canucks forward Jayce Hawryluk.

Vancouver Canucks’ scary COVID-19 situation a reminder of our current reality

With the P.1 variant running rampant in Vancouver, it is perhaps no surprise just how quickly the Canucks have been ravaged with the team going from one confirmed positive test on Tuesday to more than 15 on Friday, with it likely that there could be more positives in the coming days.

And ESPN is now reporting that more than half of the players on the Vancouver Canucks have now tested positive for COVID-19, which is just simply frightening and a horrible situation.

Seven more players – Captain Bo Horvat, Travis Boyd, Tyler Myers, Thatcher Demko, Jayce Hawryluk, Brandon Sutter and Tyler Motte – were added to the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol on Saturday, while members of the coaching staff have also tested positive for COVID-19.

It is still a hellish situation to be in and it is entirely feasible that the Vancouver Canucks remain out of action until mid-April, which would certainly present the NHL with plenty of scheduling challenges, but the most important thing is the health and wellbeing of all concerned.

After all, these players and coaching staff have families, some have young children and you just hope that all those affected make a full recovery, serious illness is avoided and that the Vancouver Canucks can get this outbreak under control and emerge from it fully healthy.

To hear that some players have had to have IVs administered is certainly scary, and we can only hope that their conditions don’t worsen and that any family members can remain safe and healthy too, although Darren Dreger of TSN has today reported that some family members are coming down with the variant, with some symptoms including vomiting, dehydration and cramping.

The paramount priority at play here is that all players, coaching staff members and their family members recover and we don’t hear any more bad or concerning news as we prepare to enter a new week, because nothing else matters at the end of the day. Health has to be the main and only concern.

Of course, the NHL will need to consider how to proceed at some point given that we’re nearing the end of the regular-season anyway, and there is no way now that the Vancouver Canucks will be able to play all 56-games, while this outbreak and the current situation regarding COVID-19 in Canada could convince the National Hockey League to adopt a Bubble environment for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as they did last season.

The current situation with the Vancouver Canucks is just another sober reminder of our current reality, though, and the fact that we aren’t out of the woods yet despite all the positive news when it comes to vaccinations, especially because the Canucks did follow all of the guidelines and a huge outbreak still happened. We all need to stay safe, stay healthy, continue to adhere to the necessary guidelines and remain vigilant because, as we are seeing unfold in Vancouver, this is far from over and we’re still very much at risk.