Harvard and one other Ivy not playing this season

Concern is rising in New England over the potential for coronavirus outbreaks related to hockey games, which are known for plenty of hard breathing and physical contact in rinks bounded by plexiglass walls.

Officials in Vermont are reexamining their coronavirus precautions for hockey after a cluster of cases, while games have been halted temporarily in New Hampshire and Maine because of virus concerns.

The moves come as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study this week that warned hockey games could turn into “superspreader events.”

“Hockey is a game that could facilitate transmission of COVID-19 for several reasons. It’s played indoors, the plexiglass shields around the rink limit ventilation, and the exertion of the players mean they are breathing heavily while close to each other — either during play or on the bench, and also in the locker rooms,” said Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The Vermont Department of Health is investigating an outbreak among members of youth and adult recreational hockey and broomball teams playing at a facility in Montpelier. Eighteen people were infected among players and close contacts, most of them adults, the state said Friday in a statement.