Elks see light at end of COVID tunnel
In football terms, the Edmonton Elks have been in all-out prevent defence mode against a COVID-19 opponent for the past week.
And now, after having their last game postponed on the way to 14 players testing positive for the virus, the Elks appear to have earned a three-and-out Sunday — as in, going three days without having to add any more names to that list.
In fact, that number dropped to 13 Sunday after a false positive was discovered.
Now, all that’s left is to say their Hail Marys and pray they can run out the clock on the rest of their 10-day quarantine and get back on the field to resume team activities Wednesday.
That would give them a full week to prepare for 2021’s first Battle of Alberta in Calgary on Sept. 6.
“It’s my understanding that we need three days of consecutive tests for there not to be added an additional day of isolation,” said Elks president and CEO Chris Presson. “So, when you look at the Labour Day game, based upon today’s information I feel good about it, that the schedule has not changed. We’re not planning on it changing, but we do need a clean run here for a few days to really eliminate the concern we all have.”
With the facilities shut down and the Elks taken out of the lineup in terms of a Canadian Football League schedule that carried on without them last week, that fear was real.
Especially in the days following the initial outbreak, where five positive tests were followed by four the next day, and more continuing to trickle in daily.
The last thing the Elks or the league wanted was for the floodgates to open and sideline the team long-term.
Thankfully, their latest opponents, the B.C. Lions, whom the Elks faced on the road Aug. 19, didn’t report a single positive COVID test and the outbreak was contained within Commonwealth Stadium, while all players, coaches and staff working in their proximity were sent home to isolate.
“Clearly, we’re in isolation now for 10 days, which is no fun for anybody,” Presson said. “That’s designed to not just limit, but eliminate any contact with anyone, not just for the team but within the community.
“And it’s designed to give the time for the virus to not spread. That’s why we have multiple tests and we’re testing daily to make sure that when we come out of this, we know that we’re clean. And going forward, yeah, we have to be extra careful.”
The precautions extend well beyond the Elks simply not getting together to practise over this stretch.
“Right now, our players are isolating,” Presson said. “They can’t even go outside to have a breath of fresh air for more than just a few minutes.”
It’s far from ideal having to hit the brakes just when the team began hitting its stride and coming up with its first win of the season in Week 3. But it also makes for logistical challenges, individually — especially new players living on their own — considering they aren’t even allowed to take a trip to the grocery store.
“Phew, Uber Eats every day is killing me,” Elks running back James Wilder Jr. posted Friday. “One hundred dollars a day on food and we still got five more days. About to start a GoFundMe …”