QMJHL suspends activity in Chicoutimi bubble after COVID cases discovered

CHICOUTIMI, QUE. -- Four new COVID-19 cases among the Victoriaville Tigers have forced the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) to suspend planned activities in the protected environment of Chicoutimi.

Chicoutimi is one of four cities hosting QMJHL games during the second wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic; the other three being Drummondville, Rimouski and Shawinigan.

À la suite de l'annonce d'hier concernant le cas positif à la COVID-19 parmi les joueurs des Tigres, la LHJMQ annonce la mise à jour suivante concernant l'environnement protégé de Chicoutimi.

— Tigres de Victoriaville (@TigresVicto) February 3, 2021

After a first novel coronivirus case was detected on Tuesday, a new wave of tests conducted a day later led to the discovery of these four new cases among players and staff of the Tigers. The organization is already in isolation for a period of 14 days.

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The Chicoutimi Sagueneens, who played two games against the Tigers last weekend, have also gone into isolation for 14 days. This is a preventive measure: no case has been diagnosed among the Sagueneens so far.

Due to these quarantines, the league announced Wednesday that the activities of this bubble will end in the evening with the game between the Val d'Or Foreurs and the Gatineau Olympiques, a meeting initially scheduled for February 7.

All other events in the Chicoutimi bubble are postponed.

-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2021.