TORONTO – The Blue Jays have received authorization from Ontario and Toronto to play regular-season games at the Rogers Center amid the coronavirus pandemic and await approval from the Canadian federal government.
Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford said the Toronto medical director had given permission and that his provincial government discussed the matter with the mayor, the medical director of Canada and the deputy prime minister of Canada, as well as the chief medical officer from Ontario.
“Yes, I hope to see them play even if it is an empty stadium,” Ford said Thursday. “They have excellent protocols, excellent guidelines that players must follow.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory said he urged the federal and provincial governments to approve the MLB plan.
“This is one of the most extensive protocols I have seen to keep people safe in the city of Toronto,” said Tory. “They will really sacrifice a lot by confining themselves, largely when they are not out of town, to hotel facilities.”
Any exemption requires approval from the federal government. A senior federal government official said they are still reviewing the plan and “have not yet approved it.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity since he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Blue Jays spokesman Rich Griffin said the team had not yet received an update. The Blue Jays are slated to start July 24 at Tampa Bay and play their first game five days later against Washington.
Major League Baseball needed an exemption from the requirement that anyone entering Canada for non-essential reasons must be isolated for 14 days. The border between the United States and Canada remains closed to non-essential travel until at least August 21.
The governments of Canada allowed the Blue Jays to relocate their summer camp from their training complex in Dunedin, Florida. The Blue Jays created a quarantine environment at the Rogers Center and the adjoining Toronto Marriott City Center Hotel, which dominates the field. Players cannot leave the stadium or hotel and possible penalties for infractions include fines of up to $ 750,000 Canadian ($ 551,000 US) and / or up to six months in jail.
Playing regular-season games in Toronto means frequent travel between Canada and the US for the Blue Jays and opponents during a period when COVID-19 cases are springing up across much of the US Canada has flattened the epidemic curve.
Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said visiting teams would not leave the Rogers Center and the hotel if the regular season plan is approved.
Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s Minister of Heritage, Sports, Tourism and Culture, said in a statement that the Ontario Medical Director of Health approved plans for the NHL and MLB, but acknowledged that federal government approval for the plan is still needed. MLB.
“These plans require players and staff to follow strict quarantine and isolation protocols from the general public, and give public health authorities the ability to rescind approval if protocols are not followed,” said MacLeod. “We will continue to work with our federal counterparts and sports organizations to facilitate a safe return to the game if athletes are allowed to cross the border.”
Dr. Andrew Morris, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto and medical director of the Antimicrobial Management Program at the Sinai-University Health Network, expects a backlash from the medical community.
“It is quite surprising that it has been specially approved with what we are seeing with the American epidemiology of COVID right now,” Morris said. “There is a strong unanimity between infectious diseases and the public health community about keeping our border closed, except for the essential movement. They have clearly said that they are going to make an exemption. The optics is not very good.”
Morris said it is unrealistic to think that players will not have contact with people during their stays in Toronto.
“If you think all summer long I have a COVID-free lot to sell you in Florida. It won’t happen,” Morris said.
Tory didn’t want the Blue Jays to be the only MLB team that didn’t play at their home stadium.
“I have faith,” said Tory. “I am very sure that this stereotype that we are going to see all these people running around partying will not take place.”
Federal and local health authorities in Canada have approved a plan for the NHL to play in Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta, but the plan does not involve international travel. The NHL selected the central cities.
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