Unlike the NBA and NHL, which are cautiously resuming practices and gameplay this season using a bubble/hub city model in the interest of health and safety amid the pandemic, the MLB's plan for the 2020 season includes significantly more travel of players between various cities — including Toronto — than some residents are comfortable with.
Absolutely no reason to have baseball teams travel through Toronto. No fans, no concession sales, no economic benefit to the city. All we get is risk of infection! https://t.co/LrwkwK1IlH
— MrCooperg (@mrcooperg) July 17, 2020
After Ontario Premier Doug Ford revealed in his media briefing on Thursday that his team had cleared the Blue Jays to play home games at the Rogers Centre, social media flooded with backlash from those who don't think that having teams come to Toronto from U.S. cities with high COVID-19 counts is in the best interest of the public.
Ford told reporters that Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, had approved the idea, which he added has the support of Toronto Mayor John Tory, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada Chrystia Freeland and others.
Ontario's top health official, Dr. David Williams, also consulted on the matter.
the MLB plan is stupid and dangerous
— jack mcgraw (@redmcgraw1) July 17, 2020
we should not allow this in the city
"I think we need a little bit of sports back on television and I can't wait to watch the Blue Jays," Ford said. "If you've seen the protocol for MLB, I think it's 150 pages... talk about strict. They have great protocol and great guidelines for the players to follow."
Still, the decision ultimately lies with the federal government, and some officials in Ottawa still have concerns about the plan. It would have both home and visiting players posted up at the Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel attached to the Rogers Centre where the Jays are currently in lockdown for Summer Camp.
I trust the Toronto players to be careful, not so much the other team’s players. 🧐😷
— deesther19 (@deesther19) July 17, 2020
There have at least been some new revisions to the proposal, which initially did not call for players to have to quarantine for 14 days despite the fact that all other travelers coming into the country must do so — but still, Canadian Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Howard Njoo has expressed apprehension.
"Who knows what the potential exposure risk is for visiting teams?" Njoo said at a press conference on Tuesday, noting that there are many risk factors for Blue Jays players travelling to the U.S. for games, as well as for anyone coming into contact with players coming to Toronto from the U.S. where their living situations and isolation protocols may not be known.
"There is a major issue as far as the travel back and forth across the U.S. border."
As the world knows by now, there are a number of states where COVID-19 outbreaks are quite serious, and still worsening.
For the last 5 months I’ve been told listen to the science; listen to the health officials.
— Jeff Matthews (@jeffmatthews88) July 17, 2020
Well in this case the science and health officials are saying it’s safe to have baseball in Toronto.
So I’m listening to them.
Njoo said as of Friday that discussions on the topic are ongoing, but that a hub city model like the NHL has would be preferable. Still, the Jays are scheduled to play their home opener against the Washington Nationals on July 29 following the start of the MLB season on July 23.
Tory, meanwhile, assured citizens on Moore in the Morning on Friday that the stringent rules set out by the MLB will apply to all visiting players, and reiterated that the proposal has been approved by health officials at all levels of government.
"I think great care has been taken here," he said on the radio show. "If it turns out not to be a good idea and it's not working, well then there'll be no hesitation, I suspect, for people saying 'Fine, it's not working, let's shut it down'."
by Becky Robertson via blogTO
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