(Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
By Staff Editorial | Advocate
It took weeks as New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and the New Orleans Saints organizations looked at the same coronavirus data and came to different conclusions about fans returning to the Superdome. Finally, after a hollow threat to move home games to Baton Rouge and some improvement with COVID-19 numbers, the mayor agreed to allow the professional football team to welcome fans — with careful, consistent and specific safety precautions.
Starting with the Carolina Panthers game, the Saints were permitted to have 3,000 at home games at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome under a safety plan the Saints described as a “phased and deliberate” approach. The idea was that safety precautions would be observed and the city would allow the Saints to increase the number of fans for games with the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons (6,000 each) and then 15,000 for the Dec. 20 Kansas City Chiefs and the Dec. 25 Minnesota Vikings games. That’s far from the 70,000-plus crowds the players are used to seeing and hearing.
The Saints required fans to wear masks as a safety measure. Nearly all fans cooperated. The Saints and other NFL players have battled week after week. There have been players testing positive and a number of players couldn’t play because they were close to someone who tested positive. On-field and post-game celebrations continued. The problem is that coaches, players and staff are supposed to mask up when they’re not on the field. That includes time in the locker room. ...
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