Yahoo Autos The Latest: NHL's COVID-19 list at season-low three players
The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:
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The list of players in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol dropped to a season-low three, despite the additions of Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby and Nashville’s Ryan Johansen.
San Jose’s Tomas Hertl is the only other player on the list after entering his seventh day in the protocol.
Arizona’s John Hayden, Detroit’s Patrik Nemeth and New York Rangers' Kaapo Kakko, who spent 12 days on the list, were all cleared Tuesday.
The protocol list has remained in single digits for each of the past nine days and is down from a season-high of 59 on Feb. 12.
In a related development, 17 of the NHL’s 31 teams now have plans in place allowing a limited number of fans to attend home games after the Philadelphia Flyers announced they will begin doing so at 15% of their arena’s capacity.
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The Charlotte Hornets are getting set to welcome fans for home games.
The team announced that for the first time in nearly a year a limited number of fans will be allowed to attend games at the Spectrum Center, beginning with the team’s March 13 game against the Toronto Raptors.
The Hornets’ reopening plan has been approved by state and county authorities and allows the team to host fans at 15% capacity, approximately 3,000 per game.
Single-game tickets for the remainder of the season will go on sale to the general public on Friday.
New protocols for fans include mandatory face masks at games, social-distancing seating, and mobile ticketing, contactless ordering and payment, and health screening before entering the building.
There will be a limited menu for concessions, featuring grab-and-go options.
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The D.C. government has told the Washington Nationals that it is too soon to say whether spectators will be allowed to attend the team’s home games during the coronavirus pandemic.
Christopher Rodriguez, the director of the city’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, wrote in a letter Tuesday to the Nationals that their application submitted on Feb. 12 requesting to play games at Nationals Park is approved “without fans in attendance due to the impacts of COVID-19 in our community.”
There were zero fans at any regular-season Major League Baseball games in 2020, when the sport played an abbreviated season of 60 games instead of 162.
Rodriguez’s letter said the possibility of fans at games in 2021 “will be reexamined as the public health metrics associated with COVID-19 evolve in the District.”
The city expects to be able to pass along “some word on ticket sales for fans in the middle of the month.”
A Nationals spokeswoman said the team will “continue to work with the city.”
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Wednesday’s Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball game between No. 22 Virginia Tech and visiting Louisville has been canceled following a contact tracing review within the Hokies’ program.
The team is following ACC medical protocols. The Cardinals will close the regular season Saturday at home against No. 21 Virginia.
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LSU officials say they’ve been working with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on soon increasing attendance at outdoor athletic venues to 50%.
“We are excited about the opportunity to welcome more fans to our outdoor venues,” the university said in a written statement. “We will also undertake the task responsibly and in accordance with the SEC’s health and safety protocols, which will include mandatory and strictly-enforced mask wearing.”
