Going to Lambeau for the Packers vs. 49ers game? Here are the best recommendations to protect yourself from COVID-19.
GREEN BAY – Football teams and fans won't be the only ones showing up for the NFL's month-long playoff run. The coronavirus will be there, too, especially in the guise of the highly-contagious and peaking omicron variant.
The NFL maintained strict protocols throughout the season in an effort to keep players available for games, but has done little to address fan safety, other than to remind fans of CDC advice and state and local requirements. Some teams, such as Buffalo, require fans to be vaccinated to enter the stadium, a state of New York requirement, but most do not.
That includes the Green Bay Packers, who host the San Francisco 49ers at 7:15 p.m. Saturday at Lambeau Field in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. The Packers, like most teams, leave it to fans to protect themselves.
"The Packers strongly encourage everyday visitors and game attendees to follow CDC guidelines, including wearing a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status," said Aaron Popkey, director of public affairs. "Packers staff members will be wearing masks in indoor spaces, including in the club levels and in the Packers Pro Shop and Packers Hall of Fame."
Additionally, the team said, fully vaccinated people might choose to wear a mask in crowded outdoor settings if they or someone in their household is immunocompromised.
It goes without saying that people who are not feeling well or exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms should not come to the stadium.
Dr. Robert Mead, family medicine doctor and a lead physician on Bellin Health’s COVID-19 Incident Command Team, said masks should be worn in any case. The rules people have come to know for COVID-19, such as keeping 6 feet apart and the relative safety of being outside, hardly apply for omicron.
"It’s so contagious, if you are outside and screaming and yelling half the time, you're going to get it," Mead said. "Make sure you are fully vaccinated, including the booster, and wearing a high-quality mask the entire time. That would be the ideal way of preventing infection."
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Public health officials have made it clear that being fully vaccinated won't necessarily keep people from contracting the virus, especially the omicron variant, but it greatly reduces the risk of severe illness and hospitalization.
Neither the Packers nor Brown County Public Health have said whether games at Lambeau Field have been COIVD-spreader events this season. Mead said he knows a number of people who likely contracted the virus at Packers games.
In addition to being in the packed stadium, "there are other close encounters. Just waiting in line to get into the game, or waiting in line for food and the bathroom. And the people that go into the bars, too," he said.
Brown County Public Health said in an email:
“Brown County Public Health recommends anyone planning on attending a playoff game get vaccinated. The best way to protect yourself and those around you is to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
"Do not attend games if you feel sick or are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms. Since Lambeau Field would qualify as a crowded outdoor setting and is in an area of high-transmission, we would also recommend those attending a playoff game wear a mask.”
The Packers also urge people to be up-to-date with vaccinations and take into account the status of other members of their family when deciding to attend the game.
Mead said that, even as a health care provider already familiar with masks, he's developed a new respect for them.
"Games are going to be cold. You’re going to want something over your face anyway. I would recommend a surgical mask at the minimum. An N95 or KN95 would be better," he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised that cloth masks are not effective against the omicron variant. The agency recommends people wear N95 masks, which provide greater protection against minute particles than do cloth masks.
It is worth noting that during the regular season, as many as 85% of fans travel 50 miles or more to the game, which means high potential for COVID-19 to come into the community and to leave it.
"Up to 40% of infections are asymptomatic. You go home and give it to your grandparents or people who are susceptible. You could give it to someone who is immune-compromised who is fully vaccinated," Mead said.
"Omicron is less severe, but it’s still severe for people who are immune compromised or over 75. We have a large percentage of people in the area that are unvaccinated."
Sixty percent of Brown County residents are fully vaccinated, slightly below the statewide average of 62%.
Brown County infection rates are at the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. As of Monday, 391 people have died in Brown County as a result of COVID-19.
Contact Richard Ryman at (920) 431-8342 or rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: COVID guidelines for Packers vs. 49ers playoff game at Lambeau Field
