New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Wednesday announced that the state will allow the Buffalo Bills to host approximately 6,700 fans at the team's first home playoff game in early January under certain restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The governor publicized the news on Twitter and in a press conference, and the New York football team also announced the agreement in a statement, writing that the wild-card game, which will be played on either Jan. 9 or Jan. 10, will require all 6,772 fans to “obtain a negative COVID test result through the NFL's testing partner, Bioreference Laboratories in order to attend the game.”
Cuomo wrote in his tweet that all fans must also wear masks and practice social distancing at the game, adding that “there will be post-game contact tracing.”
“To Bills fans—be smart,” wrote Cuomo, who has consistently been known for his strict measures on activities and businesses in the state amid surges in COVID-19 cases.
At the press conference, Cuomo said the Bills game would serve as a “pilot” for other potential future events in the state, namely by using rapid testing at the event and contact tracing after the fact to lower the spread of new infections.
“Yes, we have a vaccine, but the vaccine will take months and months,” Cuomo explained, adding that the state “cannot afford to keep the economy closed” until the vaccine is readily available to the general public.
While millions of Americans have already begun receiving doses of the coronavirus vaccine, health care workers and those in nursing homes are being prioritized in the initial distribution, and the general public will likely not have widespread access until the spring or summer of 2021, according to experts.
“If this works well, then we will look to expand it” to other outdoor events, Cuomo said at Wednesday’s press briefing. “This is really step one, and then we’ll take it from there.”
According to the statement released by the team, approximately 6,200 tickets will be available for purchase on Dec. 31 to Bills season ticket members who opted into purchasing tickets earlier this year.
Club season ticket members will receive an email from the Bills with a set time to go online and select club tickets on Thursday, with non-club season ticket members able to pick out tickets on Friday.
As of Wednesday, New York has had more than 950,000 COVID-19 cases and at least 37,256 deaths, with 12,020 new cases and at least 138 new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday alone, according to The New York Times's coronavirus database.
