WEST HARTFORD (AP/WTNH) — The nation’s top infectious disease expert, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and doctors are warning people to be cautious and not turn the Super Bowl into a super spreader event.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said when it comes to Super Bowl parties during the pandemic, people should “just lay low and cool it.”
He said it is the perfect environment with people in close spaces, yelling and cheering and letting all of that moisture out of their mouth.
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Health officials are asking please to treat it like the holidays and keep events small.
Big events like Sunday’s game in Tampa, Florida, between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are always a cause for concern over the potential for virus spread, Fauci said.
“What you don’t want are parties with people that you haven’t had much contact with, you just don’t know if they are infected,” Fauci said.
From the nation’s top doctor to one of Connecticut’s top docs, they all have the same message: celebrate, but celebrate with your family and cohort only because the Super Bowl parties are high-risk events.
“This is just not the Super Bowl that you want to be participating in large gatherings,” explained Dr. Reginald Eadie, the President and CEO of Trinity Health of New England. “It increases the likelihood that we could have a super spread here in the state that has done so well since the beginning of the pandemic.”
And even if you’ve been vaccinated, Dr. Eadie is still asking you to wear the mask and social distance because not enough people have yet gotten the vaccine to give Connecticut herd immunity, especially with now 16 new variants of the COVID strain and counting.
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“That means we are more susceptible, the spread-ability has increased, and we even think that to some extent, with these variances the degree of illness will be more severe.”
One of the biggest problems with the Super Bowl party is the food. It’s difficult to wear a mask and much of it is handheld food. The CDC has guidelines for how to host a party as well as how to attend a party, and it seems like the messages getting through.
“I’m pretty much staying home, relaxing, not doing much. Obviously,” one man shopping at a grocery store Wednesday told News 8.
“Wear your masks and keep your distance and just remember the big, big picture of it all,” another customer said.
The NFL has capped game attendance at 22,000 people because of the pandemic and citywide coronavirus mandates.
