Junior field hockey team stranded in South Africa due to Omicron variant
Canadians in southern Africa are scrambling to find flights home amid growing global concerns over the Omicron variant, the newest strain of the COVID-19 virus.
Team Canada’s junior women’s field hockey team is in South Africa for a major tournament. This weekend, they got word the tournament was postponed and most commercial flights home were cancelled. As of Monday afternoon, they have no firm plan on how they will be returning to Canada.
Jenna Berger plays on the team. “I just broke down, seeing the disappointment in my other teammates,” she says.
Twenty players and five support staff are in Potchefstroom, South Africa preparing for the Junior World Cup, which was scheduled to take place Dec. 5-16.
Berger says, “We just want to get home, see our families and spend time with them and be home safe, instead of here with all the unknown and uncertainty.”
Nancy Mollenhauer is coaching, and is part of the support staff. She says the team is doing their best to stay safe.
“We are in our own little bubble,” Mollenhauer says. “We have all been impressed with how the girls have handled the disappointment. I think you can always find silver linings in disappointment. And it has brought them closer together, I think, as a team.”
Mollenhauer says the team remains in good spirits and hopeful they will find a way home soon.
The team says they are working with officials back in Canada to help them get home safely. The team wants players to travel home in groups because some players are 18 years old.
Berger says this has not dampened her love of the sport.
“It fuels you a little more, when you get the opportunity to play again, to push a little harder because you don’t know when it is going to be taken away from you. You have to take every practise like it is your last because you don’t know what is going to happen the next day.”
Canada has banned flights from seven southern African countries. Canadians and permanent residents can return but must take a COVID-19 test and quarantine upon arrival.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING King Charles' cancer treatment progressing well, says Buckingham Palace
King Charles III’s doctors are 'sufficiently pleased' with his cancer treatment and he is expected to return to public-facing duties, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.
BREAKING Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
'Unacceptable': Trudeau reacts after AFN chief says headdress taken from plane cabin
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief said her headdress was taken from an airplane cabin this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the incident 'unacceptable' and a 'mistake' on the part of Air Canada.
DEVELOPING Bird flu outbreaks: WHO weighs in on public health risk
The current overall public health risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus is low, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but urged countries to stay alert for cases of animal-to-human transmission.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Regina police officer injured after being accidentally shot by fellow officer's gun
An investigation is underway after a Regina police officer was accidentally shot by a fellow officer’s gun during the search of a house early Friday morning.
From faulty kids' cribs to flammable kids' bathrobes, here are the recalls of the week
Health Canada issued recalls for various items this week, including kids’ bathrobes, cribs and henna cones.
Taylor Swift dons Montreal designer's dress in 'Fortnight' video
A pair of Montreal designers' work has now been viewed over 41 million times. Taylor Swift dons a Victorian throwback black gown in her latest music video, 'Fortnight', designed by UNTTLD due Simon Belanger and Jose Manuel Saint-Jacques.
Island near Mull of Kintyre for sale for US$3.1 million
An idyllic 453-acre private island is up for sale off the west coast of Scotland and it comes with sandy beaches, puffins galore, seven houses, a pub, a helipad and a flock of black-faced sheep.