Ottawa Senators announce first confirmed coronavirus case in NHL

The Ottawa Senators announced Tuesday night one of their players has tested positive for novel coronavirus, marking the first confirmed case in the NHL.

On a day that saw four more confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the NBA, the Ottawa Senators announced Tuesday evening that one of their players has tested positive for novel coronavirus.

This marks the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the NHL, though the specific player was not named.

According to the Senators, the player who tested positive for COVID-19 has had mild symptoms and is in isolation. Here’s what they had to say about the situation in their press release:

"“The Ottawa Senators are in the process of notifying anyone who has had known close contact with the athlete and are working with our team doctors and public health officials. As a result of this positive case, all members of the Ottawa Senators are requested to remain isolated, to monitor their health and seek advice from our team medical staff.“The health of our players, fans, and community remains our highest priority. We will continue to do everything we can to help ensure our players, staff, fans and the greater community remain safe and healthy during this time of uncertainty due to the spread of the coronavirus.”"

James Mirtle, editor-in-chief of The Athletic Canada, reports multiple Senators are experiencing symptoms and may have gotten it from an NBA team on the last day before the NHL shut down (subscription required):

Over the last few weeks, seven NBA players — including All-Stars Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and Kevin Durant — have joined the likes of Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Idris Elba in testing positive for coronavirus, in addition to thousands others in the United States. Hopefully now that people are self-isolating and practicing social distancing, the reported cases nationwide will start to go down, but that might not be for some time.

To date, more than 180,000 cases (and 7,00 deaths) have been confirmed in more than 160 countries worldwide, including the United States, which has seen more than 4,000 affected Americans and 75 deaths. The World Health Organization officially declared the outbreak a pandemic on March 9 and countries have implemented curfews, travel bans and mandatory quarantines to help prevent its spread.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.