An additional five players tested for COVID-19 among tests taken Wednesday prior to the cancellation of the World Junior Hockey Championship.

TSN Hockey Insiders Darren Dreger and Bob McKenzie report the positives included players on Canada, Slovakia, Germany and two members of Team Sweden. Additionally, one staff member and on-ice official also tested positive.

The IIHF made the decision to cancel the tournament on Wednesday after a total of three games had been forfeited due to teams entering quarantine after positive tests. A total of four players on Team USA, Czechia and Russia had previously tested positive.

Dreger notes the positives found from Wednesday's testing would have led to further forfeits on Thursday and beyond had the decision not been made to call off the event.

“We owed it to the participating teams to do our best to create the conditions necessary for this event to work,” IIHF president Luc Tardif said in a statement Wednesday. “Unfortunately, this was not enough. We now have to take some time and focus on getting all players and team staff back home safely.”