More cases confirmed in players and officials at World Juniors tournament

The International Ice Hockey Federation announced Thursday an additional seven cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in players and officials involved in the now-cancelled World Juniors tournament.

The IIHF said that it had confirmed six players and one on-ice official tested positive for COVID-19.

The players were one member each of Team Canada, Team Russia, Team Germany, Team Slovakia, and two members of Team Sweden.

The organization said Thursday that all who had tested positive would be required to quarantine for ten days before they could return to their home countries.

Earlier this week, the U.S. team had to forfeit its game against the Swiss due to two of its players testing positive for COVID-19.

Czechia also forfeited its game against Finland on Wednesday after a player tested positive for COVID-19. A positive case was also previously confirmed in a player on the Russian national team, leading to a forfeit of the Russia-Slovakia game.

2:00 World Juniors cancelled in Edmonton, Red Deer due to COVID-19 cases

“Getting results as little as two hours before games made things even more complicated and challenging,” the IIHF said when it announced the cancellation of the tournament on Wednesday.

The organization said it will make “every effort” to reschedule the World Juniors.

–With files from Global News’ Jessica Guse