California will return fans to outdoor stadiums for pro-sporting events in counties with low coronavirus infection rates, the state’s top health official said Tuesday.
San Francisco and neighboring Almeida and Santa Clara are the only counties that meet the threshold for pro sports. However, shortly after the announcement, Santa Clara officials in the San Francisco 49 home issued a statement saying they were unwilling to allow even a limited number of fans at Levi’s Stadium.
Santa Clara County Executive Officer Dr. Jeff Smith said about 14,000 people were able to attend Levi’s stadium events under state guidance.
“It’s a matter of making a fair scientific decision, not a political decision,” Smith told reporters. “Putting spectators in stadiums in large groups asks for trouble. It’s like a petri dish.”
Staying out is not enough to guarantee that the virus will not spread, he said, as fans will use the same restroom and the same door to get in and out of the stadium while screaming and screaming during the game.
Ersers said the team welcomed the state’s news, but the team would continue to collaborate with local public health officials to implement a plan that would ensure the health and well-being of its employees and the public. Many NFL teams from other states play games with fans in the stands.
Under state regulations, pro sports teams may have limited capacity in an outdoor stadium if they are in the lowest two-tier county of the state’s four-tiered model of reopening. Only fans within a 120-mile radius can purchase tickets.
Secretary of State for Health Dr. Mark Galli said the goal of the sporting events is to keep crowds small and regional, without allowing visitors from other areas to come and increasing the risk of a crowd epidemic.
No county in Southern California has reached those levels, so fans of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Chargers are still on this side.
San Francisco is the first high-population county to go to the lowest level in the state for infection. All other counties of that level are rural areas scattered near the Oregon border or in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
The Associated Press contributes to this report.
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