San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Safety first: Virus rules in Santa Clara County may make S.F. move games
The 49ers will not host their next two home games at Levi’s Stadium or practice at their facility because of coronavirus directives announced by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department on Saturday.
Santa Clara County’s decree in response to a COVID-19 surge temporarily bans recreational activities that “involve physical contact or close proximity to persons outside one’s household, including all contact sports.”
“We are aware of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department’s emergency direc
tive,” the 49ers said in a statement. “We are working with the NFL and our partners on operational plans and will share details as they are confirmed.”
An NFL spokesman declined further comment while acknowledging the league was working with the team.
The directives begin Monday and remain in effect until at least Dec. 21. The 49ers are scheduled to host the Bills on Dec. 7 and Washington on Dec. 13. After two road games, the 49ers are to finish the regular season Jan. 3 by hosting the Seahawks.
“For those teams, they will not be able to play games or have practices where they have direct contact within the county,” said Santa Clara County Counsel James Williams. “We have been in touch with and will continue to be in touch with all the affected parties including sports teams.”
The mandate requires people entering the county to quarantine for 14 days after travel of more than 150 miles.
It won’t affect the 49ers this weekend; they will visit the Rams in Los Angeles at 1:05 p.m. Sunday and fly home in the evening. The 49ers will return home from a game at Dallas late on Dec. 20, hours before the restrictions are scheduled to end at 5 a.m. on Dec. 21.
If the 49ers stay local, potential places to practice or play would include the Oakland Coliseum and Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium.
A league source said the 49ers and NFL prepared backup plans before the season in event the team had to relocate and have an NFL stadium ready for games. It was noted after the NFL schedule was released in May, when Santa Clara County was under a stayathome order, that the 49ers could play in Arizona at the Cardinals’ home, University of Phoenix Stadium, because the two teams did not have home games on the same day. NBC Sports Bay Area reported the 49ers are considering playing their home games in Arizona or Texas. They also don’t have a homegame overlap with the Cowboys for the rest of the season.
Saturday’s announcement came as teams across the NFL felt the pandemic’s impact. The Broncos placed all four quarterbacks on the reserve/COVID19 list and reportedly plan to use wide receiver Kendall Hinton at QB when they host the Saints on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Ravens added six players to the COVID list, bringing their total to 18 this week. The outbreak jeopardizes their oncepostponed game against the Steelers, now scheduled for Tuesday. It was originally set for Thursday. Pittsburgh has five players on the COVID list.
Nine 49ers were on their COVID roster to start the week. Five have been activated since Wednesday.
Santa Clara County reported 760 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday and 239 hospitalizations, 71 in intensive care.
The new cases and hospitalizations were the highest singleday figures of the pandemic. The county anticipates the surge could exceed the capacity of hospitals.
“I am gravely concerned by the continuing surge in COVID19 cases and hospitalizations,” Dr. Sara Cody, the county’s top health official, said in a statement. “The number of patients hospitalized with COVID19 in our county has doubled in just the past couple of weeks, and we are at risk of exceeding our hospital capacity very soon if current trends continue.”