Playoffs are bringing Chiefs fans out in crowds. Here’s the best way to watch safely
Chiefs fans at bars and restaurants around the Kansas City area cheered and gave high-fives Sunday as the team secured a spot in the AFC Championship.
Soon after, images circulated on social media and television showing fans gathered together maskless, raising alarms among those concerned about the spread of the coronavirus.
Those concerns are based in part on data showing the Kansas City area is not out of the woods yet with the coronavirus pandemic. The metro area is still adding an average of 578 new cases and 12 deaths a day. And the activities that go with celebrating football - gathering in crowds, eating and drinking, shouting - are all high-risk.
Ahead of Sunday’s game, local and national health experts agree: the safest way to watch is at home with people in your household. The game will be broadcast on CBS, when the Chiefs take on the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium at 5:40 p.m. with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
“No question,” said Jennifer Tolbert, a director of state health reform at the Kaiser Family Foundation. “We know what works to help reduce the spread. It’s just a matter of encouraging people to comply and enforcing, if needed.”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has urged the community to “celebrate responsibly.”
According to the mayor’s office, enforcement agencies will be out this weekend to make sure establishments are abiding by the safety protocols. Establishments in Kansas City must operate at no more than 50% capacity and must close at midnight.
After the team’s January 17 win against the Cleveland Browns, photos and videos showed crowds celebrating as they ate and drank at Kansas City establishments like the KC Live! event space in the Power & Light District.
The city earlier this month loosened its COVID-19 restrictions, and playoff buzz has renewed worries about gatherings. Public health experts say the prospect of people partying like they did in January 2020 is unwise and could lead to super spreader events.
“This is a little nerve wracking,” said Nathan Bahr, an infectious disease specialist at The University of Kansas Health System. “I hope people will still celebrate in a safe way. Hopefully there’s a win to celebrate and hopefully that means people screaming on their couches or yelling across the street to their neighbors.”
The next best option is to gather outside.
“Even with the cold, I’ve definitely seen people doing that where they have a TV set up in the driveway and a couple close friends distanced apart from each other and that’s a relatively safe way to do it,” Bahr said.
Sunday’s weather could present challenges for outdoor gatherings as a chance for rain moves in and the high temperature reaches only 45 degrees.
But heading to bars or other venues is riskier, especially as a variant of the virus from the United Kingdom spreads in the U.S.. The mutation, B117, has already been found in 20 states, including states bordering Kansas and Missouri. According to the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it’s about 50% more transmissible, but not deadlier.
“I’d bet money it’s here,” said David Wild, vice president of performance improvement at The University of Kansas Health System. “Statistically, it has to be ... we’ll see those impacts soon enough. I think the projection is that it will be the primary strand here within six weeks or so.”
The spread of the variant comes as the Kansas City area eases its COVID-19 restrictions. Earlier this month, Kansas City and Clay and Platte counties began allowing bars and restaurants to stay open until midnight instead of 10 p.m. Establishments in Jackson and Wyandotte counties have to stop serving by midnight and close by 12:30 a.m. Indoor gatherings are capped at 10 people.
In Johnson County, the jurisdiction hit hardest by the virus, restrictions put in place last year continue: restaurants are required to close by midnight and groups are limited to 50 people.
At Arrowhead Stadium, fans will be socially distanced from other “ticket pods” and must wear masks unless actively eating or drinking. Tailgaters will be parked in every other parking spot and must stay with people in their ticket pod, according to the Chiefs website.
As of Thursday, 1,627 metro residents have died from the virus. More than 127,000 cases have been reported.
In Kansas City, COVID-19 outbreaks have been identified at three restaurants, four family events and seven private residences, according to the health department.
Steve Stites, the chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, encouraged the community to stay safe Sunday.
“We know that any crowd gathering, there’s a substantial risk someone there is going to have coronavirus. It’s so prevalent,” he said.
“Just like what we told you at Christmas and everything else, if you work to stay safe, you’ll stay healthy, and if you get vaccinated, we can all get back to Arrowhead together, and let those opposing teams know what it’s like when there’s 78,000 people all cheering for the Chiefs.”
