The NHL says the laboratories hired to conduct daily COVID-19 tests on players in Edmonton and Toronto keep their supply chains separate from the publicB次元官网网址檚 to ensure never the twain shall meet.
Roughly 1,500 samples are collected and analysed daily in each city not only from players, team and NHL personnel, but from restaurant and hotel workers supporting the post-season tournament in each hub.
Prior to the NHLB次元官网网址檚 restart this summer, deputy commissioner Bill Daly estimated between 25,000 and 30,000 tests will be administered through the end of the Stanley Cup final.
Aware that even a perceived conflict with public testing could sour each cityB次元官网网址檚 population on hosting a dozen NHL teams, the league and labs insist there isnB次元官网网址檛 one.
The chief executive officer of DynaLife in Edmonton says the lab sources chemicals and machinery from manufacturers that donB次元官网网址檛 supply Alberta Health Services.
B次元官网网址淎 very simple analogy would be public health has chosen to run a fleet of Chevrolets and Fords as their vehicles,B次元官网网址� Jason Pincock told The Canadian Press.
B次元官网网址淲e looked at that and said, B次元官网网址極K, we want to make sure that theyB次元官网网址檙e going to have all the parts and tools for all the Chevys and Fords that they need. So weB次元官网网址檙e going to buy the Hondas, and weB次元官网网址檙e going to run Hondas for the NHL.B次元官网网址� TheyB次元官网网址檙e all still cars.B次元官网网址�
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The NHLB次元官网网址檚 chief medical officer indicated both labs gets their tests and technology from non-public suppliers.
B次元官网网址淭he way weB次元官网网址檙e doing the testing is using different staffing, different reagents and a different testing platform or machinery than is being used for the public testing,B次元官网网址� Dr. Willem Meeuwisse said when the NHL announced details on resuming the 2019-20 season.
DynaLife set up a dedicated COVID-19 testing lab for the NHL in its downtown Edmonton location a few blocks south of Rogers Place and the two team hotels.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 testing we werenB次元官网网址檛 doing before,B次元官网网址� Pincock said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e never had a role in doing the publicB次元官网网址檚 COVID testing.
B次元官网网址淏ut we do a ton of routine health care testing for the public. That is our primary job.B次元官网网址�
LifeLabs processes TorontoB次元官网网址檚 NHL tests at its main facility near Pearson Airport.
LifeLabs performs COVID-19 testing for both public and commercial clients, which now includes the NHL.
Senior vice-president Chris Carson states the company can handle both.
B次元官网网址淲e wouldnB次元官网网址檛 have taken it on if we couldnB次元官网网址檛,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲e have been very conscious of ensuring we are there for the support of the public health network. It is our first priority.
B次元官网网址淲e do track these capacities separately and we go to significant lengths to make sure we are supporting the public health network, and as the NHL has indicated, ensuring that we are not drawing against that to support our commercial relationships like the one we have with the NHL.B次元官网网址�
Both Pincock and Carson say their labs hired additional staff B次元官网网址� 70 in the case of Edmonton B次元官网网址� to fulfil the NHLB次元官网网址檚 testing needs.
The leagueB次元官网网址檚 demand for tests will decrease as teams are eliminated from the post-season and depart hub cities. It should dwindle to zero in Toronto in September.
AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 reward for high testing capacity and low rate of infection relative to other NHL markets was the league choosing the provincial capital to complete the playoffs.
The tentative start date for the conference finals is Sept. 8 followed by the Stanley Cup at Rogers Place.
The NHL said Monday no players or staff have tested positive for the virus since the 24 teams entered the secure zones in Toronto and Edmonton on July 26.
AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 government has encouraged everyone, even the asymptomatic, to get tested. Public Health Ontario isnB次元官网网址檛 currently recommending routine tests for asymptomatic people.
Slowdowns or hiccups in public testing risk a scenario in which Albertans wonder why healthy young men are tested at a faster rate than them.
B次元官网网址淛ust the mere optics of tests in the public system taking longer than tests for NHL players can be problematic,B次元官网网址� said Dr. Lorian Hardcastle, an associate law professor at the University of Calgary who specializes in health law and policy.
An NHL team receiving preferential or additional servicing from the health-care system has been a flashpoint in Alberta before.
Calgary Flames players and their families receiving H1N1 flu vaccines in 2009 at a private clinic, the day before the province declared a shortage, resulting in an inquiry and the firing of a nurse and her supervisor.
Alberta has the capacity to perform 16,000 daily tests and the highest single-day demand so far was 11,501 on July 31, Alberta Health communications assistant director Tom McMillan told The Canadian Press in an email.
B次元官网网址淎lberta has had the most open testing approach in Canada and not yet approached our maximum capacity on any given day,B次元官网网址� he wrote.
B次元官网网址淢ore important than simple capacity is ensuring that testing is available when itB次元官网网址檚 needed for those who need it most.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址� With files from The Associated Press
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
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