On the heels of Santa Clara County forcing Santa Francisco 49 out of Levi Stadium with new Covid-19 bans, the NFL is in talks with both of its Los Angeles franchises next week about avoiding pushing on alternative playing sites, two league sources said.
Sources said the steps being taken by the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams include potential troubleshooting practice and stadium sites outside the state of California, as all of its operations and the sudden relocation of 49 people from the home game are in Arizona this week. Both teams are said to be focusing on backup plans that could include the use of another NFL facility in neighboring states. Sources said the planning by the franchisees was initiated following the forced eviction of 49ers from Santa Clara County, but increased COVID restrictions at the state and Los Angeles County levels.
“[NFL] Will not be able to continue operations [in California] “Soon and where we’re on schedule, dramatic changes like Operation Migration of 49 could cover the rest of the season,” a source said. “It simply came to our notice then [in California]. The situation is being monitored and how it will affect the rest of the season is a bit fluid right now. But the best thing everyone can do is prepare for any situation. ”
Rasmus, what LA County restrictions may mean for chargers
As viral infections have recently increased in California and hospitals have come under more pressure to respond, government Gavin News issued a statewide order on Thursday to increase covid sanctions. The order will be implemented on a county-by-county basis and will be initiated by the ICU bed capacity of each area. If the location has an ICU availability that falls below 15 percent, restrictions apply to that county. Once in place, orders place strict limits on travel, community events and retail-level purchases. The new set of sanctions is set to begin on Saturday for qualifying counties and will have to come in at least three weeks once the sanctions begin. The order could also add more restrictions next week and will probably run until the end of 2020.
Announcing the new set of sanctions at a news conference on Thursday, News said, “If we don’t take action now, our hospital system will be flooded.” “If we don’t take action now, we will continue to see an increase in our mortality rate [and have] More lives lost. “
As it stands, Los Angeles County is not yet in the zone to enforce sanctions. However, the county’s infection and hospitalization rates are expected to eventually bring it under Newsom’s order – possibly early next week. Which will jeopardize game day and feature operation of chargers and RAMs.
What the NFL doesn’t want is a recurrence of the rift between the 49ers and Santa Clara County officials, which last week when the team indicated it was eye-catching by an order banning contact games for the contact period. At least three weeks. This led to a thorny exchange between San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan and Santa Clara County officials who said the team has been kept informed of possible changes to the COVID ban.
The Santa Clara County order shut down two home games for 49 people and eventually forced the team to relocate its entire operations to Glendale, Arizona, where the franchise will use the Cardinals’ practice fields and stadium until at least December 21. Stricter California COVID restrictions are likely to force San Francisco to stay in Arizona for the final week of the regular season.
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