Chiefs announce fan who attended opener has tested positive for COVID

A Chiefs’ fan who attended the home opener has tested positive for COVID-19.

The NFL has gotten through Week 1 without coronavirus outbreaks but one fan who attended the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Houston Texans has tested positive for COVID-19. The Chiefs announced the information in a statement in which they detailed how their contact tracing procedures have been employed.

The statement indicates that the Chiefs have been able to use security cameras as well as parking and ticket scanning data to figure out where the person entered the stadium, who they came to the game with and the fact that the individual was wearing a mask upon entry.

The data allowed the Chiefs to confirm that this person’s movements were limited to one seating zone and offered a guide into people that this fan may have come into contact with on that game.

The Chiefs have provided this information to the city’s health department and stressed in their statement that compliance to COVID-19 protocols by fans and staff will be critical throughout the season. This response is worth monitoring since the Chiefs were one of only two teams to host fans in Week 1, a number that will increase as Miami, Dallas, Indianapolis and Cleveland are among the teams set to welcome spectators in Week 2.

The Tennessee Titans are Houston Texans also scheduled to start welcoming fans in Week 4 while Denver, Atlanta, Green Bay and Baltimore are among the teams who have been open to allowing fans later in the season. So far just five teams have indicated they will not host any fans this season: both New York teams, Las Vegas, and the two Los Angeles franchises. Philadelphia also isn’t allowing fans for the foreseeable future.

The protocols the Chiefs have demonstrated will be important for other teams to replicate if they want to safely host fans this season. If these procedures do end up limiting exposure to COVID-19 to just the people the fan interacted with it could end up providing a blueprint for other leagues to start allowing spectators again before a vaccine becomes available in the United States.