With the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs right around the corner, and 150 million people in the United States with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 110 million fully vaccinated, the NHL has announced that they will begin to ease restrictions for teams.
In a memo sent from the NHL to teams that are about to participate in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the league said that once a team reaches 85% of its players fully vaccinated they can begin to ease restrictions including masks, testing, team meetings, social gatherings, and travel according to TSN's Frank Seravalli. Twelve teams in the United States are currently at the 85% threshold, while it is not expected that any of the four Canadian playoff teams will reach that until before the start of the 2021-22 season.
Seravalli also released a full list of things teams can do once they hit the 85% required by the NHL. Fully vaccinated players will now be able to:
> "socially gather in groups of up to eight, now including for the first time others who are not in a club's traveling party - such as friends and family, so long as each person in the group has also been fully vaccinated. Face coverings and social distancing are not required during those gatherings. The gatherings can occur either indoors or outdoors."
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> "Masks are no longer required in non-public areas of game arenas and practice facilities for fully vaccinated individuals."
> "Team meetings and social gatherings can resume with no face coverings and no requirement to socially distance for vaccinated individuals, but they must be sufficiently distanced from unvaccinated individuals."
> "Players will no longer need to get PCR tested on days off. Similarly, fully vaccinated players will no longer require a rapid test, unless that player did not have a PCR test the previous day."
> "Individuals will now be permitted in the hotel rooms of other fully vaccinated individuals. They'll now be permitted to eat on flights and busses, eat and drink at restaurants with outdoor dining."
> "Individuals may gather indoors to dine, with no requirements for masking or social distancing, if a separate section of the restaurant is designated and secured from the rest of the patrons (e.g. a private or reserved room) so long as they are served by a masked restaurant employee."
> "Individuals may golf as a group."
Source: Frank Seravalli/TSNADS
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