The NHL is finally following other leagues and the CDC by shortening the length of COVID-19 isolation to five days under certain conditions and where it is allowed by local laws.
This applies only in the U.S. at the moment as Canada currently has more strict pandemic regulations. The change went into effect on Wednesday morning.
The NHL has recently postponed nine games scheduled in Canada because of attendance limits imposed by the Provincial Governments, these games are to be made-up at a later date when hopefully these restrictions will ease and fans in Canada can fill arenas once again.
Players, coaches and staff who tested positive for the coronavirus can return after five days if symptoms are gone or resolving themselves with a negative PCR test or two negative rapid test results taken more than two hours apart.
“I think that’s a good step,” Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg said on a video call. "Obviously testing will still be a regular thing, I’m sure, and that’s something that we dealt with all last year, so we’re used to that. But I think that’s the way to do it as long as we can keep everything in the way it’s been, which has been pretty safe to me.”
The isolation requirement of 10-days will still remain in Canada. The NBA and NFL have previously reduced to six and five days after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued the new guidance.
The league has postponed 80 games so far this season, counting the nine in Canada because of crowd restrictions in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba.
