12 Edmonton Elks have tested positive for COVID-19

EDMONTON -

One more person in the Edmonton Elks organization has tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the case total to 12.

After the game against the B.C. Lions in Vancouver last Thursday, five members tested positive on Saturday, four on Sunday, two on Monday and one on Tuesday.

Players coaches and staff were once again tested on Wednesday and results are expected to come back on Thursday.

The game scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 26 against the Toronto Argonauts was postponed last Sunday.

'GOTTA GET EVERYBODY VACCINATED'

In an interview with TSN CFL Insider Dave Naylor, CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said the league is learning it can't let its guard down even after months of planning for possible coronavirus outbreaks.

"The second lesson is you gotta get everybody vaccinated. It's absolutely clear that that is the number one priority," Ambrosie told Naylor.

According to Ambrosie, the majority of cases are unvaccinated. Between that and the possibility Canadians could soon need to provide vaccine status to fly across the country, he said the league will be sending a "tough" message to players and personnel who hadn't yet got the shot.

"We happen to play… the greatest team sport in the history of humankind: the game of football. Everybody relies on everybody else. Well this is a time to show that not only is it the ultimate team sport but we are the ultimate team players."

The league hasn't mandated vaccines – a decision it says it is unable to make under the collective bargaining agreement – nor directed clubs on how to welcome fans back into stadiums.

On Tuesday, the Oilers Entertainment Group announced vaccine status or a recent negative COVID-19 test would be needed to attend events at Edmonton's Rogers Place, from NHL games to touring shows. Later that day, an Elks spokesperson told CTV News Edmonton "conversations around fan vaccination requirements will be occurring."

Edmonton and Saskatchewan are the last CFL teams to not make such requirements of fans in attendance at games.

Ambrosie also told Naylor no decision had been made yet about rescheduling Thursday's postponed Elks vs. Argonauts game.

He called it a complex situation to factor in stadium availability and team schedules, but a discussion that wouldn't "leave any stone unturned in pursuit of the best possible scenario," including Edmonton hosting the game.

"Gotta show the courtesy to the Argos… At this point, I wouldn't take anything off the table."

With files from TSN