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The border between Canada and the U.S. remains closed, and the Americans’ delayed response to the COVID-19 pandemic has the country on a trajectory far greater than any other. The U.S. has more than 100,000 cases — the most in the world — with the peak not expected for several weeks yet.

The CFL allows teams to have up to 20 Americans on its rosters, and the vast majority of them live in the United States in the off-season. Lions quarterback Mike Reilly lives in Seattle; receiver Bryan Burnham is in Tulsa, Oklahoma; defensive back T.J. Lee lives in Blaine.

Since the pandemic has closed borders to non-essential traffic, there have been few signings among CFL teams. Only seven players have been added to rosters leaguewide since March 18, two of them in B.C. — Lafayette College offensive lineman Jake Marotti and linebacker Quinlen Dean.

Marotti got spotted at the College Gridiron Small School Showcase in Fort Worth, Texas, in early January, and ironically it was the COVID-19 shutdown of NFL combines that played into the 6-foot-6, 295-pounder’s signing in B.C., but he remains at home in Ambridge, Pa., unable to join his new team.

Former Lion and new CFLPA president Solomon Elimimian has warned his members that they should prepare for the upcoming season as if it isn’t going to happen, in a ‘hope for the best, prepare for the worst,’ letter to players this week.

“As I sit here writing to you from Arizona, everything is being shut down — from schools to malls, to restaurants and gyms. We are in a different world to say the least. Like many of you, I’ve had to recalibrate my plans, and it seems as if the only thing that is certain right now is uncertainty,” he wrote. “I want you to know that I have been in regular communication with the CFL to try and get answers to the questions we all have. … I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you all to prepare for the worst.”

jadams@postmedia.com

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