The Carolina Hurricanes have been able to transport their COVID-19 positive players out of Canada and get them en route home, the team has confirmed.
Hurricanes forwards Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, along with massage therapist Mike Maresca, tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday while Carolina was in Vancouver, British Columbia. In such cases, a government-mandated 14-day quarantine is enforced. The players and Maresca were isolating at a local hotel and had a health official — known as a quarantine officer — assigned to their case.
Carolina was able to show the quarantine officer they had a plan in place that would allow the stranded party to cross the border and reach their final destination in Raleigh without coming into contact with the public.
The Hurricanes ultimately were able to coordinate an emergency medical transportation for the party out of Vancouver and into Washington State. The team had to navigate customs issues related to Aho (born in Finland) and Jarvis (from Canada) – Maresca is American – but all three were able to arrive at an airport in Everett, Washington where Hurricanes owner Thomas Dundon had his private plane waiting.
That transport took off for St. Paul, Minnesota, where four other Carolina players who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 were also quarantining. The plan was to pick up Ian Cole, Steven Lorentz, Jordan Staal and Andrei Svechnikov in St. Paul and carry on back to Raleigh.
Due to their COVID outbreak and salary cap constraints, Carolina is scheduled to play the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night with only 16 skaters.