EVEN NHL PLAYERS OWED DEGREE OF HEALTH PRIVACY
Two Ottawa Senators who have COVID-19 are not being identified, which is the law
A group of people aboard the Ottawa Senators flight to California are playing the waiting game to find out if they have the novel coronavirus.
While the club announced Saturday a second unnamed player has been diagnosed with COVID -19 after confirming the first positive test in the NHL late Tuesday night, the Senators indicated eight of the 52 people aboard the club’s Air Canada Jetz charter that returned from
Los Angeles on March 12 had undergone testing conducted by public health officials to see if they had the virus as well.
As of Sunday afternoon, those were the only two positive tests among NHL players and both have been in the club’s dressing room, though the St. Louis Blues issued a news release Sunday afternoon indicating “a relative of a team employee” has tested positive as well.
The Senators are waiting on the results for the other people tested aboard the flight that left Ottawa on March 6 for San Jose as the club prepared to face the Sharks on March 7 before making stops in Anaheim on March 10 and Los Angeles on March 11.
The Senators were scheduled to fly to Chicago on March 12 when the decision was made to pause the NHL season.
The charter was on the runway for a couple of hours while the Senators were waiting for the final decision from the NHL’s board of governors to postpone the schedule. The players also had two days off in Anaheim before taking on the Ducks.
“The total number of people that travelled with the club is 52, including players, staff, media, guests and flight crew,” the Senators said in a statement Saturday. “Of those on the trip, 44 have shown no symptoms, eight people have been tested, and two positive results were received. We are awaiting the results from tests that took place on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.”
Publicly, there seems to be confusion because the players haven’t been named, but Ottawa lawyer Eric Macramalla noted people need to understand the players diagnosed have the right to privacy under the law, just like anybody else would where health is concerned.
It’s up to the player to choose to go public with the fact he has the virus, but the club has informed everybody involved who came in contact with the two individuals.
“Individuals have an expectation of privacy with respect to their personal information and personal health information is generally considered the most confidential,” said Macramalla, a partner at Gowling WLG and a legal analyst for TSN/Forbes, in an email Sunday.
“A fundamental principle of privacy law is that an organization should only collect, use, and disclose an individual’s personal information based upon consent. Therefore, personal information (including COVID-19 test results) should not be disclosed without the player’s consent.”
Macramalla added the organization and the media need to respect those rights.
“Where a team has intentionally decided not to disclose the test results of its players to respect their privacy, then other organizations, including media, should maintain the privacy of player,” he said. “As well, as per the ethics guidelines of the Canadian Association of Journalists, there is an argument that unless there is a public health basis to disclose that information, which there is not, journalists should not be sharing the positive test results of players with the public.”
Everybody aboard the plane was told to self-isolate when the Senators returned from California. The Sharks had been warned by the Santa Clara health commission not to allow fans in the stands, but went ahead with games against the Senators and Colorado Avalanche anyway because it was a warning and not an order.
Octagon Hockey’s Andy Scott, an Ottawa-based lawyer, agrees with Macramalla’s assessment.
“Employers need to balance out protecting confidentiality of patient health information with laws relating to the protection of their employees (occupational health and safety),” Scott said in a text message. “In the sports industry there is the added protection that must be considered for the public health.
“They should provide enough information to ensure everyone is aware of the risk of exposure while ensuring confidentiality is respected.”
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly noted in an interview with TSN Radio in Vancouver on Thursday that tests are co-ordinated with local public health officials and only those displaying symptoms are going through the complete battery of tests to see if they have COVID-19.
Individuals have an expectation of privacy with respect to their personal information.