Hundreds of Youth Hockey Players in Maine and NH Forced to Quarantine After Referee’s Positive COVID-19 Case

The Portland Press-Herald reported Thursday that 400 people in Maine and New Hampshire have been quarantined as a result of a positive COVID-19 test on a referee who officiated 8 youth hockey games in two days on October 3 and 4. According to the article, “The games were played on Saturday and Sunday at the Biddeford Ice Arena, North Yarmouth Academy and Merrill Fay Arena in Laconia, N.H., the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.”

Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC also said:

“If you or a family member was on the ice for one of these games, you should consider yourself a close contact of someone with COVID-19. You should quarantine yourself for 14 days since your exposure on the ice.”

The article lists the specific games that the infected referee officiated, including arenas where they took place and the times of the games.

RinkAtlas has previously reported on situations where close contact analysis on infected participants in hockey wasn’t properly done (see the article about the USPHL below).

USPHL Weekend Series in Marietta Georgia Called a “Super-spreader” COVID-19 Event

It appears that the Maine CDC is taking the complete opposite approach by considering everyone who participated in games where an infected person was on-ice as close contacts.

The other issues that this case points out are:

  1. The regulations are unclear regarding whether full amateur hockey games can be played in Maine. The Press-Herald reported in a related article that Youth Hockey isn’t permitted to play inter-squad games under Maine’s current community sports guidelines. In another article, it discusses the debate about Maine’s community sports guidelines, which appear to be recommendations, but the Department of Health and Human Services discusses as if they are regulations.
  2. The tendency by youth hockey associations to employ a small number of certified USA Hockey officials to officiate relatively large numbers of games is an additional risk. One infected official participated in 8 youth hockey games in two days. A small number of officials working a large number of games in a local area on a weekend is fairly common in the United States. But it is an increased risk during a pandemic like the one we are experiencing at the moment.
  3. The estimated number of people exposed according to the Maine CDC exceeds the maximum number of players on the rosters in eight games. If each team was different in the eight reported games, then the total number of players theoretically exposed would be 320 (8 games x 2 unique teams x 20 player roster). If you add four bench personnel per team, a time keeper, a score keeper, two penalty box attendants, and two referees, the number is 320 + 112 (8 games x [8 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 2]) = 432.

Thanks to Jim Britt for pointing this story out to us.

Updates on This Story

The Maine Amateur Hockey Association cancelled all games through at least Tuesday, October 13. Mike Keaney its president said, “I apologize for the late notice but the board feels that it is in the best interest of all involved to cancel until we can get clarification from the Maine Department of Human Services regarding playing this season. Attempts to reach them for clarification were unsuccessful this afternoon {Friday}.”

RinkAtlas Arena Directory Updates