Doctor predicts fans in Ontario will soon be barred from NHL/NBA games.

I unfortunately have some bad news to share with sports fans in Ontario and quite frankly I don't think anyone is going to be the least bit happy about it.

A report from TSN business insider Rick Westhead appears to indicate that sporting events in the province of Ontario may be in jeopardy as cases of Covid, specifically of the Omicron variant, are on the rise. Westhead spoke with Dr. Andrew Morris, an infectious disease expert, and he estimates that cases of the Omicron variant could reach over 10,000 per day by the time the calendar year has come to an end. 

The news is particularly bad for sports fans that were enjoying a return to normal with games in the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association open to fans who have been vaccinated, but Dr. Andrew Morris now believes this may come to an end. According to Dr. Morris the Ontario government will soon have to close NHL and NBA games to the public once again, stating his belief that there won't be any other option.

"Government has no choice," said Dr. Morris as per Westhead.

I'll be blunt here. Regardless of how legitimate these concerns may be, I strongly suspect that any attempt to shutdown NHL or NBA games in the province will be met with severe backlash from fans. Not only do you need to be fully vaccinated to attend in the first place, but nearly 82% of people in Ontario have already received at least 1 shot, with 76.8% of the province fully vaccinated as of December 11th. That means that the overwhelming majority of those impacted will have done everything required to get their lives back to a sense of normalcy, only to have it stripped away once again.

This of course will have a big impact on the National Hockey League as well with both the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs being based in the province of Ontario. How this could impact travel for other teams, or restrictions for the players on those teams, was not something touched on by Dr. Morris.

According to Westhead a number of other medical professionals share the opinions of Dr. Morris, although he did not disclose any numbers in that regard nor did he include any of their names or credentials.

I sincerely hope for the people of Ontario that this will not be the case.