Leafs GM says Auston Matthews' COVID-19 test results should not have been released

The revelation that Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews had tested positive for COVID-19 caused a huge debate on social media surrounding the legal and ethical ramifications of releasing someone's personal medical information without their consent. The story, initially reported by Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, was made public on June 19th and has since been confirmed by Matthews himself, although he stated he felt fine and was "mostly asymptomatic." In an appearance on Sportsnet's Tim & Sid, Leafs' GM Kyle Dubas was adamant the results should never have been reported.

"I feel that it's a private situation and Auston did not volunteer any information for public consumption," said Dubas. "It wasn't in competition so he wasn't missing time or games with us and I didn't really feel that it was something that needed to be publicly reported, respectfully."

Dubas added that is his own view and he knows that many others don't share his opinion. He said he's aware that athletes and other celebrities have come forward themselves to announce positive diagnoses for COVID-19, but they chose to do that, something Matthews wasn't given the chance to do.

"It's a personal, private thing and it wasn't impacting his ability to perform for our team. And if he wanted it private, it should have been left private," Dubas said. "As it has for every other NHL player."

Simmons' story meant Matthews became the first NHL player, and perhaps the first professional athlete in any sport, to have a positive diagnosis for COVID-19 made public without their consent. As far as the legality of Simmons' report, he reported the truth and, therefore, there is very little, if anything, that the law could do about it. As for the moral and ethical questions surrounding the story, those are entirely a matter of each person's opinion.

Matthews, for the record, is a full participant in Toronto's training camp and appears to be no worse for wear despite his earlier diagnosis. The NHL's policy during Phase 2 was to simply release numbers of positive tests on a weekly basis without ever mentioning names. Now that the league is in Phase 3, any player not taking part in training camps for any reason is listed as "unfit to play."

Source: Tim & Sid

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