The number of positive COVID-19 tests in the CFL through pre-training camp and quarantine is actually lower than 10.
TSN reporter Farhan Lalji breaks down the results: “Recently, the league did release that 10 players have tested positive for COVID since the league began testing at the start of the quarantine period. 6,000 tests have been done, five of those positive tests took place before the players travelled to Canada, the other five took place after the players arrived.”
“We’ve now learned that three of those five tests, including Saskatchewan linebacker Deon Lacey, were actually false positives. As far as the other two tests are concerned, one of them is still being determined whether or not it was a false positive, the other one, in fact, was a definite positive case, and there have been some close contacts associated with that case.”
Any individual that tests positive is prevented from joining or is removed from team activities, and is isolated or quarantined, in accordance with the CFL’s return to play health and safety protocol, Public Health Agency of Canada protocol and local public health protocol.
The CFL was granted a national interest exemption by the federal government, allowing them to shorten the standard 14-day quarantine for individuals entering the country.
Players were required to self-isolate seven days prior to their departure for training camps, then quarantine for an additional seven days upon arrival. Three negative COVID-19 tests are required in Canada before any player can begin workouts.
The CFL will continue to provide updates on tests administered to Tier 1 personnel.
