Santa Clara County issues temporary ban on contact sports, could impact Sharks' training camp

If the 2020-21 NHL season kicks off on January 1st, 2021, as has been proposed, the San Jose Sharks will have some hurdles to overcome as Santa Clara County has issued a temporary prohibition of any contact sports activities for the next three weeks.

The order comes as a means for controlling the spread of COVID-19 within the area, which is currently labeled purple tier, which is California's most restrictive tier concerning the resuming of business operations. Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody has stated that Santa Clara County is "at risk of exceeding our hospital capacity if current trends continue."

County Counsel James Williams met with reporters on Saturday to discuss the temporary ban on contact sports and had this to say:

"The update today to the professional sports and collegiate sports directive will temporarily suspend activities that require direct physical contact or interaction in Santa Clara County. So that means for those teams, they will not be able to play games or have practices where they have direct contact within the county."

The Sharks organization does operate facilities in other Counties, including Fremont, Alameda and Oakland, though Alameda is also at similar risk of exposure to Santa Clara County, and thus, is also in purple tier, which likely also eliminated that possibility for the Sharks. Having a couple of different facilities to turn to as a back up plan is good news for the Sharks, who will likely be able to avoid any major setbacks should camps open midway through December.

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