The Edmonton Elks said the team had gone three straight days without recording a new positive COVID-19 test.
“All PCR test results from both Friday, Aug. 27 and Saturday, Aug. 28 have come back negative,” the team said in a release Sunday.
“That means the Elks have now gone three consecutive days without a positive test, dating back to Thursday, Aug. 26.”
The news came a week after Edmonton’s game against the Toronto Argonauts, initially scheduled for Aug. 26, was postponed.
The Elks also said Sunday that the number of confirmed positive cases among the team has dropped to 13, after a player was deemed to be a false positive.
The team says the player’s initial test on Aug. 24 was positive, but three subsequent PCR test results all came back negative.
All players and coaches will remain at home in isolation through Tuesday, and will continue to receive daily tests.
On Friday, the Elks released information on the team’s vaccination rate, stating that 63 of the 79 Tier 1 members (players and coaches) — 79.7 per cent — were fully vaccinated.
The Elks said three Tier 1 members — 3.8 per cent — are partially vaccinated.
Elks president and CEO Chris Presson said as of Friday, 83.5 per cent of Elks players and coaches have at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
“When you look at… Canada as a whole, there’s not a province that has a higher vaccination rate than that,” he said.
The league has set out an 85 per cent vaccination benchmark for teams.
According to the CFL’s COVID policy, if a game is cancelled due to COVID-19 issues and it cannot be rescheduled, the club with the issues will forfeit the game.
If a team can prove that 85 per cent of its players under contract have been vaccinated, at least once and preferably fully, its players will receive their salary for the cancelled game.
If the team falls below that 85 per cent threshold, the entire team will not receive its salary.
The Elks (1-2) plan to return to their facilities at Commonwealth Stadium on Wednesday ahead of their next game against the Stampeders in Calgary on Sept. 6.
— With files from Caley Ramsay, Global News, and Kirby Bourne, 630 CHED
Comments