PARIS The mugshot-style photos are posted on online message boards in black and white and look a little like old-fashioned wanted posters.
The Jews own COVID just like all of Hollywood, the accompanying text says. Wake up people.
The post is one of many that white supremacists and far-right extremists are using to expand their reach and recruit followers on the social media platform Telegram, according to the findings of researchers who sifted through nearly half a million comments on pages called channels on Telegram that they categorized as far-right from January 2020 to June 2021.
The tactic has been successful: Nine of the 10 most viewed posts in the sample examined by the researchers contained misleading claims about the safety of vaccines or the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing them. One Telegram channel saw its total subscribers jump tenfold after it leaned into COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
COVID-19 has served as a catalyst for radicalization, said the studys author, Ciaran OConnor, an analyst at the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue. It allows conspiracy theorists or extremists to create simple narratives, framing it as us versus them, good versus evil.
Other posts downplayed the severity of the coronavirus or pushed conspiracy theories about its origins. Many of the posts contain hate speech directed at Jews, Asians, women or other groups or violent rhetoric that would be automatically removed from Facebook or Twitter for violating the standards of those sites.
Telegram, based in the United Arab Emirates, has many different kinds of users around the world, but it has become a favorite tool of some on the far-right in part because the platform lacks the content moderation of Facebook, Twitter and other platforms.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Telegram said it welcomed the peaceful expression of ideas, including those we do not agree with. The statement said moderators monitor activity and user reports in order to remove public calls for violence.
OConnor said he believes the people behind these posts are trying to exploit fear and anxiety over COVID-19 to attract new recruits, whose loyalty may outlast the pandemic.
Indeed, mixed in with the COVID-19 conspiracy posts are some direct recruitment pitches. For example, someone posted a link to a news story about a Long Island, New York, synagogue on a channel popular with the far-right Proud Boys and added a message urging followers to join them. Embrace who you were called to be, read the post, which was accompanied by a swastika.
The researchers found suggestions that far-right groups on Telegram are working together. ISD researchers linked two usernames involved in running one Telegram channel to two prominent members of the American far-right. One was a scheduled speaker at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a white supremacist deliberately drove into a crowd of counterdemonstrators, killing one and injuring 35.
That channel has grown steadily since the pandemic began and now has a reach of around 400,000 views each day, according to Telegram Analytics, a service that keeps statistical data on about 150,000 Telegram channels on the site TGStat. In May 2020 the channel had 5,000 subscribers; it now has 50,000.
The data is especially concerning given a rash of incidents around the world that indicate some extremists are moving from online rhetoric to offline action.
Gavin Yamey, a physician and public health professor at Duke University, has written about the rise of threats against health care workers during the pandemic. He said the harassment is even worse for those who are women, people of color, in a religious minority or LGBTQ.
Yamey, who is Jewish, has received threats and anti-Semitic messages, including one on Twitter calling for his family to be executed. He fears racist conspiracy theories and scapegoating may persist even after the pandemic eases.
I worry that in some ways the genie is out of the bottle, Yamey said.
The pandemic and the unrest it has caused have been linked to a wave of harassment and attacks on Asian Americans. In Italy, a far-right opponents of vaccine mandates rampaged through a union headquarters and a hospital. In August in Hawaii, some of those who harassed that states Jewish lieutenant governor at his home during a vaccine protest brandished fliers with his photo and the word Jew.
Elsewhere, people have died after taking sham cures, pharmacists have destroyed vaccine vials, and others have damaged 5G telecommunication towers since the pandemic began nearly two years ago.
Events such as the pandemic leave many people feeling anxious and looking for explanations, according to Cynthia Miller-Idriss, director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab at American University, which studies far-right extremism. Conspiracy theories can provide an artificial sense of control, she said.
COVID-19 has created fertile ground for recruitment because so many people around the world feel unsettled, Miller-Idriss said. These racist conspiracy theories give people a sense of control, a sense of power over events that make people feel powerless.
Policing extremism online has challenged tech companies that say they must balance protecting free speech with removing hate speech. They also must contend with increasingly sophisticated tactics by groups that have learned to evade platform rules.
Facebook this month announced that it had removed a network of accounts based in Italy and France that had spread conspiracy theories about vaccines and carried out coordinated harassment campaigns against journalists, doctors and public health officials.
The network, called V_V, used both real and fake accounts and was overseen by a group of users who coordinated their activities on Telegram in an effort to hide their tracks from Facebook, company investigators found.
They sought to mass-harass individuals with pro-vaccination views into making their posts private or deleting them, essentially suppressing their voices, said Mike Dvilyanski, head of cyber espionage investigations at Meta, Facebooks parent company.
OConnor, the ISD researcher, said sites like Telegram will continue to serve as a refuge for extremists as long as they lack the moderation policies of the larger platforms.
The guardrails that you see on other platforms, they dont exist on Telegram, OConnor said. That makes it a very attractive place for extremists.
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Far right uses misleading COVID-19 theories to expand its reach - pressherald.com
NEW YORK U.S. officials intensified calls Friday for unvaccinated Americans to get inoculated in the face of the new omicron variant that contributed to a record number of infections in New York and threatened to wipe out a second holiday season in Europe.
Though the calendar is about to change, Friday had a distinctly 2020 feel: NFL games were postponed because of COVID-19 infections. The Rockettes canceled Christmas shows. European governments imposed a spate of restrictions that ground travel to a halt and saw travelers lying low.
Much remains unknown about omicron, but officials warn that it appears more transmissible than the delta variant, which has already put pressure on hospitals worldwide. The uncertainty alone was enough for many people to change their plans.
In the United States, President Joe Bidens administration resisted tightening any restrictions, but also sketched out dire scenarios for the unvaccinated in a plea for hesitant Americans to get the shot.
For the unvaccinated, youre looking at a winter of severe illness and death, for yourselves, your families, and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said Friday, echoing the presidents own comments earlier this week.
The new variant is already in full force in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, with new cases hitting a one-day record of more than 8,300 on Thursday. But new hospitalizations and deaths so far are well below their spring 2020 peak and even where they were this time last year, city data shows.
The coronavirus also interrupted sports in the U.S. again. The NFL announced Friday that three games would be pushed from the weekend to next week because of outbreaks. The league has not specified whether the cases came from the omicron variant.
The Radio City Rockettes called off four performances scheduled for Friday because of breakthrough COVID-19 cases in the production, and plans for upcoming shows were still being assessed. The popular holiday program generally has four shows per day in December at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.
Dr. Stanley Weiss, a Rutgers University epidemiology professor, said officials need to react faster, citing a willingness to redefine fully vaccinated to include booster shots, for example.
Everyone wants us to be through with this pandemic, but in order to get us through it, we cant ignore the realities of whats going on and what is needed, Weiss said.
Denmark decided to close theaters, concert halls, amusement parks and museums in response to virus cases. In Spain, friends and classmates canceled traditional year-end dinners.
Scotland and Wales on Friday pledged millions of pounds for businesses hurt in Britains latest infection surge, a move that heaped pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnsons government to do the same in England.
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak held talks with business representatives who have demanded more support, decrying a lockdown by stealth in which government officials recommend people cut back on socializing as much as possible without officially imposing the strict rules of past shutdowns.
Britain reported record numbers of infections three days in a row this week, the latest on Friday with more than 93,000 cases tallied.
Businesses ranging from vacation providers to pubs and theaters saw a wave of cancellations as customers decided to skip merrymaking for now rather than risk being infected and missing family celebrations later.
Even Britains Christmas pantos beloved and raucous holiday performances are under threat. The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry in western England had to refund 180,000 pounds ($240,000) in ticket sales after customers decided not to go to shows. It was also forced to cancel 12 performances of Beauty and the Beast because half the cast tested positive.
Theres been a real dent of confidence, Executive Director Joanna Reid told the BBC.
Scotlands first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said Friday that financial assistance for business must come from the central government because it has the borrowing power to finance the scale of aid that is needed.
Business is already bleeding, every 24 hours counts, Sturgeon said during a briefing in Edinburgh, Scotlands capital. There is no time to waste.
The already beleaguered travel and tourism industry is being particularly hammered.
Eurostar, which operates trains across the English Channel, sold out of tickets to France on Friday before new rules restricting travel to and from Britain took effect. Long lines snaked around the parking lot at the Eurotunnel, which runs the tunnel that drivers use to cross the water.
Ryanair originally expected to carry about 11 million passengers in December, but that figure dropped to 10 million, chief executive Michael OLeary told the Guardian. Europes biggest airline will also cut about 10% of its capacity in January.
Amanda Wheelock, 29, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, canceled a trip to France with her partner as cases spiked there. Even though the surge isnt necessarily due to omicron, the uncertainty about the new variant, and a new requirement that all U.S. travelers have to test negative before flying back to the U.S., made her worry that the trip would be more stressful than fun.
Instead, shes traveling to the Anchorage, Alaska, area to see friends.
A vacation with a lot of stress is probably not a great vacation, said Wheelock, who is from Arvada, Colorado.
The Advantage Travel Group, which represents about 350 U.K. travel agents, said business fell by 40% in mid-December from a month earlier. Those numbers, including flights, cruise bookings and package holidays, add to the travel industrys existing slump, which had already seen business fall by two-thirds since the pandemic began, CEO Julia Lo Bue-Said.
Our members are dealing with customers who are really nervous about traveling now, she said Theyre really nervous about bookings for the New Year because they fear that theres a risk that the government will make more knee-jerk reactions.
Many in the travel and hospitality trades hoped they had put the worst behind them, nearly two years into a pandemic that has devastated those industries. They saw this holiday season as a chance to claw back some of what was lost until omicron cast a pall reminiscent of the early days of the crisis.
Richard Stevens estimates he has lost out on 4,000 pounds ($5,300) worth of bookings at his rental ski chalet in the French Alps after the new, stricter travel rules for people coming from Britain were announced.
He lost his first reservation when a guest called to say that the restrictions wont allow anybody to come to France without a compelling reason, Stevens said. And the compelling reason doesnt include going on holiday.
Celebrity chef Michel Roux and other restaurateurs have invested heavily to remake their venues to address safety concerns and hoped to reap some of the benefits.
To return to a state of huge uncertainty for a second consecutive Christmas is like a kick in the stomach, said Roux, who has a destination restaurant in London.
Jorge Riera, who manages a traditional Spanish diner in central Madrid, said it doesnt matter that authorities have not imposed specific restrictions and, at most, have only issued recommendations.
Most of our customers prioritize the well-being of their relatives over going out for a fun night with colleagues, Riera said.
In the past week alone, cancellations rolled in for about half of the booked space, sometimes on the same day of the event, the manager said.
People are once again afraid of the virus, he said.
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COVID-19 surge in NY hits new record, disrupts everything from Rockettes to NFL games - OregonLive
CHARLESTON, W.Va. Active cases of COVID-19 went back above the 9,000 mark in case numbers posted Friday by the state Department of Health and Human Resources.
The DHHR confirmed 1,168 new cases and 791 recovered cases resulting in 9,092 active cases.
There were 22 COVID-related deaths recorded by the state Friday including an 89-year old female from Berkeley County, a 70-year old female from Raleigh County, a 47-year old male from Hardy County, an 83-year old female from Monroe County, a 59-year old male from Putnam County, a 72-year old female from Brooke County, a 52-year old male from Berkeley County, a 66-year old male from Hampshire County, a 58-year old male from Harrison County, an 89-year old male from Berkeley County, an 87-year old male from Brooke County, a 61-year old female from Cabell County, a 62-year old male from Brooke County, an 82-year old female from Jackson County, a 60-year old male from Ohio County, a 56-year old female from Jackson County, an 83-year old female from Raleigh County, a 68-year old male from Hancock County, an 89-year old male from Randolph County, a 54-year old male from Monongalia County, a 53-year old male from Lewis County, and a 58-year old male from Lewis County.
West Virginia recorded its first omicron variant case on Thursday. State officials said its from Marion County.
Hospitalizations were listed at 623 on Fridays dashboard report with 196 patients in ICU and 117 on ventilators.
Vaccinated residents over the age of 50 receiving booster shots has increased to 41.9%.
Active cases per county include: Barbour (73), Berkeley (1,215), Boone (108), Braxton (73), Brooke (85), Cabell (396), Calhoun (48), Clay (62), Doddridge (38), Fayette (317), Gilmer (29), Grant (104), Greenbrier (154), Hampshire (74), Hancock (146), Hardy (95), Harrison (341), Jackson (73), Jefferson (492), Kanawha (614), Lewis (87), Lincoln (96), Logan (144), Marion (258), Marshall (100), Mason (103), McDowell (100), Mercer (422), Mineral (109), Mingo (107), Monongalia (267), Monroe (104), Morgan (156), Nicholas (225), Ohio (207), Pendleton (19), Pleasants (19), Pocahontas (22), Preston (102), Putnam (286), Raleigh (476), Randolph (88), Ritchie (39), Roane (85), Summers (50), Taylor (85), Tucker (15), Tyler (14), Upshur (86), Wayne (152), Webster (48), Wetzel (39), Wirt (17), Wood (340), Wyoming (88).
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DHHR reports more than 9,000 active cases of COVID-19 - West Virginia MetroNews
With a plethora of players from across the league's landscape being forced to enter Health and Safety Protocols and some games being postponed as a result, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association are talking about instituting a rule that would force teams hit hard by COVID-19 to sign replacement players, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Baxter Holmes. The conversations are currently ongoing.
The NBA's Board of Governors held a call on call Friday, and the consensus was to do whatever possible to avoid potential postponements or cancellations. Having teams add replacement players would do that. As it currently stands, a team that is extremely shorthanded has the option to add an additional player via a hardship exception. This would become mandatory. Here's what such a plan would look like:
In the proposed plan, after the first case of COVID, a team would be permitted to add a 10-day player, league sources said, but after a second, third and fourth case, teams would be required to add a 10-day player. Teams would be limited to three replacement players, but the new plan would, overall, require teams to maintain enough depth so that the league wouldn't be forced to cancel or postpone games because some teams didn't have the league-required eight healthy players.
... That team would need to have four players sidelined -- either by injury or COVID or some combination of the two -- and down to only 13 healthy players for them to add a replacement player. But once a team had five players sidelined, it would then become mandatory for them to sign a replacement player.
These replacement players reportedly wouldn't count against a team's salary cap or luxury tax. This plan could potentially be approved in the near future. Meanwhile, there has been a push from team executives and coaches to alter the protocols in order to allow asymptomatic players to play in games However, the league hasn't shown any willingness to do so.
Over 80 players have entered the protocols so far this season, and virtually every team has had to deal with absences as a result. The NBA had to postpone over 30 games last season, and that's something the league is trying to prevent from happening again. Forcing teams to add replacement players probably won't improve the quality of play out on the court, but it would curb potential postponements, which is the goal.
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Winning cures everything in sports, they say. Except thats not true.
It wont cure the outbreak of COVID-19 cases plaguing the Nashville Predators. This virus not only has bad timing.If anything, it has a taste forsuccess. How else to explain its arrival just as the Predators were playing their best hockey of the season?
Same for the Colorado Avalanche. Both teams brought five-game win streaks into a bizarre Thursday night divisional game at Bridgestone Arena that probably shouldnt have been played.
Both sides were shorthanded, missing forwards and skaters. The Avalanche didnt have their goalie. The Predators didnt have any of their coaches. They had to dip into their farm team in Milwaukee to fill out a lineup and have anyone on the bench to lead it.
Someone had to win this foolishness, and the Predators did, 5-2.
As a team, captain Roman Josi said, well probably always remember that game.
Now theyll remember it fondly. Thats the good part.
The bad is that the Predators also knew theyd wake up the next morning in the same predicament uncertain about whether theydbe able to play Friday night in Chicago. Uncertain about who wouldtest positive next and have to miss games.Uncertain if theydcontinue to be led in the interim by Milwaukee Admirals coach Karl Taylor since John Hynes and his assistants have all been sidelined.
And above all, uncertain if its going to be any safer to play the Blackhawks than it was the Avalanche, who were having players ruled out up until the start of Thursdays game.
Weve arrived quickly at this precarious spot intheNHLs season, andits clear the leaguethus far has no cluehow to handle the rash of cases befalling so many of its teams. So far, it has operated withoutconsistency, postponing games for some teams while steadfastly insistingothers like the Preds and Avalanche get on with playing, no matter the difficulty.
Its a new world were in, forward Filip Forsberg said. You have to expect the unexpected always, and today was obviously proof of that.
At best, Thursday's game was a silly though entertaining experience at Bridgestone.
At worst, itll prove hazardous to someone's health. This game not to mention theplane rides after thegame could easily cause more players to get sick.
Or rather, more players TO TEST POSITIVE, I should say.
I dont know theyll get sick even if they do test positive. In fact, most of the Predators whove tested positive this week have been asymptomatic, Im told. That makes it a little bit likea tree falling in the forest makinga sound. Are they really sick? And if theyre nosicker than they would be with the flu or some other bug floating around, then it becomestempting to start reconsidering howconcerned we should be.
The NHL has been seeing many asymptomatic cases. The NFL has, too.
Itd make sense if this rapid spread of asymptomatic cases among vaccinated people has something to do with an Omicron variant reputed to be more transmissible and milder in severity. Im no doctor, but shouldn't wehope thats the case?It might mean COVID is finally progressing into something more like a common cold.
If so, that really could be how this pandemic ends.
And after nearly two years, I think wed all like to know how this pandemic ends.
Its fair to wonder as someone who has received two shots and a booster, I sure do what isthe endgame if it wasn't thevaccine? Im not saying were at a finish line with COVID. But who gets to decide when we are? What will that look like?
Maybe on some level and at some point itll resemble Thursday night at Bridgestone.
COVID playeda leading role in thefestivities at Bridgestone, but it didnt stop them. A game happened. A team ofPredators players more or less won that game. Their fans were in attendance, and thosewho did play for the home team were glowing and talking about how special it was.
And it was special.
It was special because it was rare. Whats rare, by nature, isnt sustainable.
The NHL has a challenging stretch ahead. At some point, it is going to have to figure out if it needs to stop the season entirely. If not, then I wish thosedecision-makers luck indetermining how much COVID they are willing to tolerate andsayits OK to keep moving forward.
Sooner or later, thats something were all going to have to decide.
Reach Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.
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PHOENIX The long-term effects of a COVID-19 infection are still unknown and surviving the virus can look different for many people.
After spending almost a year in a hospital, a Valley father and grandfather continues fighting for his life at home. Despite not being able to walk and having lung complications, Eduardo Acosta still manages to spread joy with his uplifting spirit.
This epidemic is serious, look at me, look at me, this is COVID right here, said Eduardo Acosta.
Acosta hasnt been able to walk since he was released from the hospital about four months ago. He struggles to talk with an endotracheal tube, but after seeing the increase of COVID-19 cases in Arizona, he wanted to send an urgent message to the community this holiday season.
RELATED: Latest COVID-19 coverage in Phoenix and across Arizona
I cant walk. My feet dont work, my feet dont have feeling, I cant move. Im so lucky to be alive, expressed Acosta.
Life will never be the same for the Acosta family. It's been a year since their tata contracted COVID-19 a week before Christmas and a week before qualifying for the vaccine.
Its been terrible, so terrible. Now that I know what COVID has done, I was in a coma and didn't know what was going on, stated Acosta.
He spent last Christmas and his birthday in a hospital. He says hes fortunate to spend the holidays with his family at home this year, but the fear of losing his fight continues today.
And I'm going to keep on fighting.
Fighting the good fight, he said, with his family by his side celebrating every little step along the way dancing al estilo Acosta Acosta style. A bond he shares with his grandson Isaiah Acosta.
What I learned is tomorrow is not promised, I literally dont know what I would do without him, said Isaiah Acosta.
He says his tata has been there for him as he also fought for his life growing up.
Cherish the moments and every second you have with your loved ones, expressed Isaiah.
Its not just a cold
Eduardo Acosta is a fighter, but the family worries about his lungs constantly.Theyre like little air bubbles that are in his lungs and at any given time those can pop. Its very serious and I don't think a lot of people know that. its not just a cold, for some its not, stated Tarah Acosta.
Tarah Acosta says having her father home is a relief, but her kids are still fearful.
Their fear is that they might go to bed and tata might not be there.
So, theyre asking all to please take precautions. Especially this holiday season.
Make it with family, immediate family, you dont need a lot of people. Please, please, I'm begging you, please get vaccinated, said Eduardo Acosta.
He says to not take life for granted and wishes a great holiday to all the nurses that took care of him.
I know if I went through a hard time, I know they did too, I know they did too.
The family has opted to care for their tata at home and says they need help to pay his medical transportation to doctor appointments, medications, supplies, and medical bills, if anyone feels encouraged to donate.
Excerpt from:
Surviving COVID-19 day by day: A Valley grandfathers plea to the community - ABC15 Arizona
The school's Covid-19dashboardwas updated late Tuesday afternoon, accounting for the jump in case numbers reported.
"Virtually every case of the Omicron variant to date has been found in fully vaccinated students, a portion of whom had also received a booster shot," said Vice President for University Relations Joel Malina in a statement.
As of result, the school has decided to shut down itsIthaca, New York,campus, where it has about 25,600 students. Cornell's overall vaccination rate among students is 99%.
Malina said the measures being taken on campus are to "help students who have tested negative to return safely home for the winter break, and in an effort to limit the spread of the Omicron variant to vulnerable populations."
"While I want to provide reassurance that, to date, we have not seen severe illness in any of our infected students, we do have a role to play in reducing the spread of the disease in the broader community," Pollack said.
The school has a mandatory vaccination policy for students, with exemptions for religious or medical issues. All unvaccinated students and many vaccinated students are required to take part in surveillance testing. Mask wearing indoors is compulsory.
"Cornell is not requiring members of our community to receive a booster at this time; however, as breakthrough cases continue to occur, we encourage you to consider receiving a booster," officials said.
Cornell's last day of classes was December 7 and its final exam period is scheduled from December 11-18, according to its online academic calendar.
Correction: A previous version of this story gave an inaccurate number for the percentage of students vaccinated. It is 99%.
CNN's Sarah Boxer and Steve Almasy contributed to his report.
Continued here:
Since its return, Broadway has required eligible audiences, crews, performers and other staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19. This week, the Broadway League, a trade association for the industry, began enforcing a new vaccination and mask policy for children. The precautions are designed to ensure the show goes on in an industry that is a vital to New York City's economy and supports about 97,000 jobs, according to the Broadway League. The group said Broadway contributed $14.7 billion to the city's economy in the 2018-2019 season."Aladdin" became the first Broadway show known to cancel performances due to Covid-19 when it called off multiple shows in September.
'Hamilton'
"Our highest priority is always the health and safety of every cast, crew, and audience member," the show said on Twitter.
"We will have more information on upcoming performances as soon as possible. On behalf of everyone at Hamilton, we apologize for the disappointment and for any inconvenience this may cause," the show said.
Hamilton was one of the first Broadway shows to reopen in September following the pandemic shutdown.
'Ain't Too Proud'
The Temptations musical "Ain't Too Proud" canceled its Tuesday night Broadway performance "out of an abundance of caution ... due to a breakthrough Covid-19 case," the show said.
'Freestyle Love Supreme'
"The wellness of our cast, crew, and guests is of the utmost importance. We apologize for the inconvenience," the show said.
'Doubtfire'
"Daily testing of everyone at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre allows the opportunity to isolate anyone who tests positive for the wellness and safety of audiences, cast, crew and theatre staff," a statement from the production said.
'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'
The Wednesday matinee performance of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" was canceled, but the evening show was expected to go on.
"We will enchant you another time," the show said.
'Tina'
"Tina," the Tina Turner musical, called off both scheduled performances Wednesday "due to the detection of a limited number of positive covid test results within the Broadway company," the production said.
Shows were expected to resume Thursday.
CNN's Alison Kosik contributed to this report.
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These are some of the Broadway performances canceled over Covid-19 - CNN
The rise in COVID-19 cases is becoming an increasing concern throughout the NHL.
In just over 36 hours (from early Monday to Tuesday evening), nearly 30 players and staff members were added to the league's COVID-19 protocols. Tuesday's game between the Minnesota Wild and Carolina Hurricanes was postponed because of COVID-19, one day after the Calgary Flames' season was put on pause amid an organizational outbreak.
The situation is subject to change at any time. Here, Emily Kaplan, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski, answer some of the questions about where the NHL is at, what might be in store for the season and how COVID-19 worries could impact the NHL's Olympics participation.
Greg Wyshynski: As of Wednesday night, the NHL has postponed 10 games this season because of "mini-clusters" of outbreaks on four specific teams. The Ottawa Senators had three games postponed (at New Jersey, at home against the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers) from Nov. 16-20. The New York Islanders had two road games scratched on Nov. 28 (Rangers) and 30 (Philadelphia Flyers).
The NHL paused the Calgary Flames' season before the team was about to embark on a U.S. road trip, postponing games in Chicago on Monday and Nashville on Tuesday as well as home games against Toronto on Thursday and Columbus on Saturday. Finally, the Carolina Hurricanes' game at the Minnesota Wild was postponed Tuesday.
Emily Kaplan: The NHL is implementing enhanced protocols through at least Jan. 7, sources told ESPN Wednesday afternoon.
The decision came after the NHL, NHLPA and their doctors held conference calls on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon, following a rash of COVID cases across the league.
Under the enhanced protocols -- which NHL players experienced for all of last season -- players will be tested daily instead of every third day, according to sources. All team personnel will be required to wear face masks at facilities, meetings will be held virtually, and everyone will be asked to limit all social interactions outside of the hotel, rink or home. The NHL currently only has one player who is not vaccinated, Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi.
The NHL has recommended the booster shot, and many players have already received it. However the league does not intend to mandate a booster shot at this time, sources tell ESPN.
Emily Kaplan: As of now, the NHL is not considering a pause. The league views that as a last resort. Especially since most players who are testing positive have mild to no symptoms, the league is figuring out a way to play through the rash of cases.
ESPN.com: Edmonton Oilers coach Dave Tippett was placed in protocol after the team's loss Tuesday night. A number of Carolina Hurricanes players, including Sebastian Aho, are currently in protocol and the team's game Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild was postponed. Boston Bruins forwards Brad Marchand and Craig Smith were placed in protocol on Tuesday and Patrice Bergeron was added Wednesday.
The Calgary Flames have had a number of players in the protocol and have had three games postponed. They added 17 total team members to the league's protocols on Wednesday, including head coach Darryl Sutter (seven players, three coaches and seven support staff members).
Kristen Shilton: The situation this season is quite different from last season's.
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First of all, the entire NHL is vaccinated, save for Detroit Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi, who has refused to receive the vaccine. So while players and staff members have tested positive, the symptoms being reported by individuals have widely been either very mild or nonexistent.
By comparison, when COVID-19 ripped through 25 members of the Vancouver Canucks' organization last spring, several players and coach Travis Green were felled by debilitating symptoms.
Some players, like Milan Lucic, have also received their booster shots already (although Lucic still tested positive this week). More players may follow suit and receive their third doses sooner rather than later.
To that end, fully vaccinated players and employees haven't been subject to the same rigorous protocols as they were before. Last season, dressing rooms were more spaced out, players were expected to be masked at all times and to practice physical distancing. Now, fully vaccinated players are not beholden to those same parameters, which doesn't help at times like these, when the virus is suddenly spreading rapidly.
Then, of course, there's more travel for every NHL team this season. That results in more interactions with other people, more potential spread and more difficulties with containment.
And as one player noted Tuesday night, many guys have partners and children in contact with more people than they were last year. Schools have been back in session across the board and some offices have reopened. Those interactions create more potential exposures for players that weren't there before, when virtual learning and work from home was prominent.
Basically, there's no single culprit in this. But it may benefit the NHL to ramp up protocols again until the spread of the coronavirus settles down.
Kristen Shilton: There are different provisions in Canada vs. the U.S. if a player/staff member tests positive.
The NHL's COVID-19 protocol dictates that wherever a person is when they test positive is where that person must quarantine at the designated local hotel. However, the Canadian government requires a 14-day quarantine for any positive test. For example, Carolina Hurricanes forwards Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis plus a team staffer were forced to remain in Vancouver (and potentially stay there for two weeks) after testing positive during the Hurricanes' stop against the Canucks.
By comparison, when Hurricanes teammates Jordan Staal, Andrei Svechnikov, Ian Cole and Steven Lorentz subsequently tested positive in Minnesota, they were sent to isolate in a hotel only "for the time being," according to the team.
As of Wednesday morning, the Hurricanes were developing a plan that could potentially involve using emergency medical transport to return the trio in Vancouver to Raleigh. The hope would be to settle on a way forward in the next day or so, but it remains a tricky situation to manage.
Hurricanes' GM Don Waddell told The Athletic on Tuesday that as far as getting everyone back home, "Those are details we're working on right now, because now we've got three guys there and four guys in Minnesota. Maybe we can bring them all home together."
Greg Wyshynski: From the NHL's perspective, the players' participation in the Beijing Olympics was collectively bargained last year, and they're sticking to that commitment -- provided there isn't a "material disruption" for the 2021-22 regular season because of COVID-19. Bettman said the league would pull the chute on their participation "if it became clear that we couldn't reschedule without doing something else, including [using] some portion of the break." The NHL isn't saying what its threshold is for a "material disruption" of the season, except that we're not there yet.
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From the players' perspective, the concern is about getting COVID-19 while participating in the Olympics. According to the current "playbook" given to athletes by the Beijing Organizing Committee, a symptomatic player would be taken to a hospital there, while an asymptomatic player would go to an isolation center.
Asymptomatic athletes will be discharged after two consecutive negative COVID-19 test results at least 24 hours apart if they continue to exhibit no symptoms, although they'll face increased COVID-19 protocols. But it's the athletes who exhibit symptoms who could be in for a rather lengthy stay in China.
Athletes can be discharged from the hospital when their body temperature returns to normal for three consecutive days; their respiratory symptoms improve significantly, including documented improvement through lung imaging; they have two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests within 24 hours of each other; and they exhibit no other COVID-19 symptoms. After that, they'll still need a Chinese medical expert panel's approval to be discharged.
While it's not spelled out in the playbook, the NHLPA has communicated to players that the quarantine time for a symptomatic player in a hospital could be between three weeks and five weeks. Granted, recovery time could be faster, but this is the realistic range the players are hearing from the union -- especially since any discharge from quarantine requires the medical panel's approval.
That could mean over a month and a half away from loved ones in a quarantine facility in China, but it could also have a significant financial impact. Per the NHL and NHLPA agreement, players who contract COVID-19 while in Beijing will not be paid for any missed practices or games after the NHL Olympic break. There's an International Ice Hockey Federation fund, reportedly worth $5 million, to cover that lost salary. But once that's gone, players wouldn't be compensated for lost time.
The NHLPA is still waiting to hear from the Beijing organizers on a few matters, like the location of these quarantine facilities. But it's also waiting to get clarity on whether an infected athlete -- or an injured one -- can leave China to rehab back in North America.
Greg Wyshynski: It was believed that Jan. 10, 2022, was going to be a critical date on NHL participation, as any pullout following that day would mean financial penalties for the league. But deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Jan. 10 "has to do with financial responsibility for costs at that given point and time," and that a decision can be made beyond that date.
NHLPA executive director Don Fehr hopes for clarity by Jan. 10. "I would like to be able to say by that date. But even if it's yes, it's contingent on nothing changing [after that]," he said. "The plan is now that we go, unless something happens which causes us to reassess."
Of course, the longer this uncertainty goes, the more participating nations in the Beijing men's hockey tournament need to formulate a Plan B. Team USA GM Bill Guerin and his team are keeping an eye on AHL and NCAA players and those who play in international leagues for a hastily constructed alternate team -- although they obviously hope the NHL players are the ones making the trip. For Canada, look no further than the upcoming Channel One Cup for a glimpse at what their Plan B roster could look like: former NHLers like Ryan Spooner, Eric Fehr and Jason Demers, led by former Canadiens coach Claude Julien and Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton.
Greg Wyshynski: Some will be made up in the course of the season. Of the nine games postponed as of Tuesday night, two had been rescheduled. Unfortunately, the Olympic break provides the most room to wiggle. The NHL decided not to pad the end of its season with time to make up postponed games, as it did in the 2021 season. The last day of the regular season is April 29. The Stanley Cup playoffs begin on May 2. That date could be fluid, but in the first year of a new television deal with two U.S. networks, it's probably not ideal to push the postseason any further into the summer. Currently, June 30 is the date for a potential Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final.
How much could the league cram into the Olympic break? There is a "shadow schedule" created by the NHL that includes a one-week break -- gotta allow those non-Olympic, non-All-Star players their planned trips to Maui with the fam -- and some games move up from later in the season. But building availability is a problem. The NHL encouraged its arenas not to book events during the Olympic break, on the off chance the players don't go to Beijing. But arenas have been taking massive financial hits during the pandemic, too, and used that time to reschedule tours and book other acts.
Madison Square Garden, for example, has 11 concerts from artists ranging from Billie Eilish to Elton John, plus three Knicks games during the NHL break. Staples Center has 16 events, including Lakers and Clippers games and three days of concerts held in conjunction with the Super Bowl.
Kristen Shilton: At this point, only goalie Robin Lehner -- a lock for Team Sweden -- has publicly stated he would decline an invitation to participate in the Olympics.
But other stars around the league have begun commenting on some of the uncertainty and the possibility of a lengthy quarantine in China amid rising COVID-19 cases.
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Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, one of three players already named to Team Canada, told reporters on Tuesday that when it comes to the Olympics, "It's obviously going to be a very fluid situation. There hasn't been a ton of information [coming] out, and then there's that three- to five-week [quarantine] thing. It's kind of been floating around. Obviously, it's unsettling if that were to be the case when you go over there."
Still, the desire to represent his country remained strong for McDavid.
"I'm still a guy that's wanting to go play in the Olympics," he said. "But we also want to make sure it's safe for everybody. For all the athletes, not just for hockey players."
Alex Pietrangelo, who was also named to Team Canada, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday his concerns are mounting.
"I've got four kids that are under the age of three and a half," he said. "For me to be potentially locked up there for five weeks plus the Olympics, that's a long time being away from my family. I'm not going to make a decision until we get all the answers, because those are kind of hard to come by right now. So, we're all kind of sitting and waiting."
Also on Monday, Maple Leafs captain John Tavares, who was selected to Team Canada for the 2014 Games in Sochi, shared his own hesitation about going to Beijing.
"I think we all hope to go, but clearly I think things are a little bit more uneasy than they were," he told reporters. "There are definitely some questions that we want to look into and have answered. Obviously there's going to be some hurdles and some challenges with where things stand. I'm probably a little more uneasy than I was a number of weeks ago, or a few months ago."
Meanwhile, Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, likely in the mix for Sweden, told reporters Wednesday that if things remain the same as far as a quarantine in China for those who test positive, he "likely won't be going" to the Olympics.
It seems likely more players will continue chiming in after the recent wave of positive cases throughout the NHL.
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