The thousands of fans who will attend Saturday's AFC Wild Card matchup between the Bengals and the Las Vegas Raiders should be masked, health officials pleaded Wednesday.
Citing the rapid spread of COVID-19, which again set case and hospitalization records Wednesday, Deborah Hayes, president and chief executive officer of the Christ Hospital, and Greg Kesterman, health commissioner of Hamilton County, urged the public to consider the precaution. They argued that masking plus social distancing amid the surge of the highly transmissible omicron variant is "a small ask" officials are making.
"If you're planning on going to the stadium or to a bar, I recommend you mask up," Kesterman said Wednesday at a virtual COVID-19 briefing. "I recommend after you take a drink of your beer, to put back on your mask. It's really a small ask that we are making right now."
Kesterman added that individuals who don't feel well should make the game-time decision to stay home not only from the stadium but also from other game-related events and venues.
"If you wake up and you're getting ready to go to the Bengals game or to a bar or to a party and you feel like you have a cold, you probably have COVID," he said. "Please keep sick at home and stay home."
Hayes, who joined the call to detail how hospitals are struggling with capacity amid the winter surge of COVID-19, said the virus' purge regardless of vaccination status should cause people to make conscious decisions about attending the game and protocols to take to stay safe if they do.
"If you are fully vaccinated and boosted, going to that game is perfectly fine, but I would encourage everyone, regardless of your vaccination status, to wear a mask at any time when you are in public, certainly if you are inside in closed spaces," she said.
"I am a huge Bengals fan," Hayes continued. "I would hope that everybody at the stadium on Saturday evening has a mask on in support of this city and in support of each other."
Fans should expect upwards of 65,000 fans at Paul Brown Stadium on Saturday. With an eight-game losing streak in the postseason on the line, the game could attract attendance in range of the stadium's 65,535-person capacity.
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