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Several hundred fully vaccinated health-care workers will be allowed in to Bell MTS Place to watch the Winnipeg Jets in their upcoming Stanley Cup playoff series.
The Jets face off against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the second-round series Wednesday night.
Provincial public health orders prohibit gatherings of any kind. But the Manitoba government will be allowing “a very limited number” of fans to root for the Jets for the first time since the NHL paused its 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said a spokesperson from the Health Department.
Via Twitter, the Winnipeg Jets announced 500 health-care workers who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 will be allowed in to watch Games 1 and 2 of the series. Bell MTS Place can seat up to 16,345 fans.
The move comes as Manitoba continues to report high COVID-19 case counts and transmission rates, while hospitals try to get a handle on a record number of COVID-19 ICU patients — a couple dozen of whom have had to be transferred to other provinces.
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister revealed the news at a media briefing Tuesday afternoon, after being asked by a CBC reporter if he thought having fans in the stands for Jets games would be appropriate given the current situation.
“Yeah,” he responded. “I think there will be some fans, a small number, a few, in the next Jets game.”
Pallister said fans being allowed to attend a Jets game is an optimistic sign “that we can start to get our lives back here in Manitoba.”
Fans attended the Bell Centre in Montreal to watch Game 6 between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday after the Quebec government loosened restrictions to allow 2,500 fans inside the 21,302-seat arena.
It was the first time a Canadian NHL team had fans inside their home arena since the league paused its 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ontario responded two days later, allowing 550 fully vaccinated health-care workers to attend Monday’s Game 7 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
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