With just over a week from the start of the 2020 World Women’s Curling Championships in Prince George, a lot of questions surround the health of athletes, patrons and facilities with coronavirus still running a muck around the globe.
In B.C., there are 21 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of yesterday (March 5), however, none of them are within Northern Health’s jurisdiction.
Kerri Einarson, the skip of the triumphant Manitoba team that claimed the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts last month, earned the right to represent Canada at worlds and will bring her club to the northern capital for a shot at winning a gold medal in her international debut.
During a teleconference this morning (March 6) with local and provincial media, the 32-year-old said she and her teammates are staying focused on the task at hand, but also keeping health and safety in mind.
“I think we’re taking the necessary precautions and just making sure we’re doing all those right things,” Einarson said, “but I’m not worried about it as long as we’re doing what we can to keep ourselves healthy.”
Kerri Einarson is coming to Prince George to represent 🇨🇦 at the 2020 World Women’s Curling Championships 🥌 Her Manitoba team won the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, needing an extra end to beat Rachel Homan’s Ontario squad 8-7 in the final | #CityOfPG #WWCC2020 @PGMatters pic.twitter.com/U5yyXZ9msU
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) February 24, 2020
The City of Prince George released a statement earlier today saying they’ve been in close contact with Northern Health and the World Curling Federation with regards to hosting the event starting next Saturday (March 14).
“As the organizers of the event, Curling Canada and the World Curling Federation have been working with officials from a variety of official health agencies for guidance to help ensure a safe and healthy event. The organizers further report that teams competing in the WWCC are already in Canada training and acclimatizing. In fact, Team China has been outside of China for the last six months and training in Europe and Scotland.”
China is one of the 13 countries that qualified to compete at the CN Centre; Wuhan is where the coronavirus originated earlier this year.
Curling Canada CEO Kathy Henderson believes, however, the risk for COVID-19 in the city will be ‘extremely low.’
“We have confidence that health authorities in Prince George are prepped. The World Curling Federation has been communicating with the teams and member nations about what they should be doing, so we are ensuring that everybody knows proper public health protocols and procedures. I don’t know all the details about all the teams, but I do know that some have been practicing in Canada for weeks if not months. [...] We expect Prince George to be a really great host city, they’ve been wonderful to work with.”
World Curling spokesperson Cameron McAllister says the top priority over the nine-day tournament is to ensure the safety and well-being of all athletes and officials, but currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions that would impact any of the federation's events.
"Therefore, at this time, all World Curling Federation events will go ahead, and qualified Member Associations will compete, as planned," he said in an email to PrinceGeorgeMatters.
"However, we are in regular communication with the World Health Organization, local health authorities and appropriate sporting authorities and as we consider all possible implications of the spread of the virus and how it may impact on curling this position may be subject to change at short notice."
This will also be Einarson’s first-ever visit to Prince George and she looks forward to sharing the opportunity to play on home soil while also wearing the maple leaf for the first time in her career.
“It’s nice to play in your home country and having that support behind you,” she said when asked the question from PrinceGeorgeMatters.
She added she’s most excited to receive her Canadian team jacket and the feeling she’ll get when putting it on her back ahead of competition.
Einarson’s team consists of three former skips in the sport of curling.
Val Sweeting is the third, Shannon Birchard is the second and Briane Meilleur is the lead.
The 2020 World Women’s Curling Championships are on from March 14 to 22 in Prince George.
- with files from Jess Fedigan, PrinceGeorgeMatters
Einarson has had success on B.C. ice before when she won 🥈 at the 2018 Scotties in Penticton as the Wild Card team 🥌 The 32-year-old was the #2 Canadian women’s curler last year & boasts 2 @grandslamcurl victories, including the 2019 Players’ Championship | #CityOfPG #WWCC2020 pic.twitter.com/Dbmw5SO4A0
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) February 24, 2020
