EDMONTON -- A hockey fundraiser normally involving dozens of volunteer players has been permitted to go ahead next month east of Edmonton.
The World's Longest Hockey Game has raised more than $5.47 million for the Cross Cancer Institute, and at Thursday's provincial COVID-19 briefing, officials said the event received an exemption to go ahead in February.
"The number one criteria that must be matched by anyone considering seeking an exemption is they have to demonstrate that public health can be protected," said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health.
"In this particular case, we worked with the organizers to ensure that the protocols that are being used involve multiple layers of protection."
The province said the event supports an important charity and this year there will be strict measures in place to prevent the virus from spreading.
"Quarantine including regular testing, including very strict separations between different groups of people, as we saw was successful in the NHL bubble and the World Junior Hockey Championships," said Hinshaw.
Since 2003, there have been six World's Longest Hockey Games and two World's Longest Baseball Games.
The events are organized by Brent Saik, who lost his father to cancer in 2014.
This year's World's Longest Hockey Game is scheduled to run from Feb. 4 to Feb. 14 at Saiker's Acres in Strathcona County.
