SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 11: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers attempts a pass against the Minnesota Vikings during the NFC Divisional Round Playoff game at Levi's Stadium on January 11, 2020 in Santa Clara, California (Photo: Getty)
Just 90 minutes after the state of California ruled that teams could start slowly having fans back to games, Santa Clara County, which is where the San Francisco 49ers stadium is, ruled that the team would still not be allowed to have fans of any kind attend games despite this ruling. According to the rules, the 49ers would have been able to allow 14,00 fans into their stadium that can hold over 60,000.
Later, at a news conference, county executive Dr. Jeff Smith said it would be “dangerous” to open stadiums. “This is the worst thing in the world to be doing,” Smith said. “At a time when California is beginning to see some light, this amounts to another step backward. We’ve already done steps backward in California that have cost tens of thousands of lives and this is another risk to do this.”
The 49ers declined to comment on the ruling but many companies were upset by the reopening guidelines, most notably Disney which is also allowed to have guests back in their parks but only under very strict guidelines. “The fact is that throughout the nation, the virus is spiking,” Smith said. “All of the health experts in the nation that are respectable have predicted another spike in November and December. It’s going to get worse. It’s going to get a lot worse. Right now is not the time to be relaxing regulations.”
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