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Players, fans guard against COVID-19 for safe Super Bowl LV

A pedestrian with a mask walks past a poster for Super Bowl LV outside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
1 of 5 | A pedestrian with a mask walks past a poster for Super Bowl LV outside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

MIAMI, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face another foe this week at Super Bowl LV: COVID-19. Team personnel, fans and staff members continue to take numerous precautions to prevent an outbreak.

A last-minute positive test result for a player could be heartbreaking because Super Bowl appearances are rare for NFL teams. A player could be ruled out hours before the game and miss perhaps his only opportunity to compete for a championship.

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"We made a commitment to beat the virus before we could beat another team," Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians told reporters Wednesday on a Zoom conference call.

The NFL completed every regular season game and each playoff game this year after it started the campaign on time in September, but that accomplishment didn't come without stress.

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Coaches had to plan for the possibility they may not have a player at the last minute due to positive COVID-19 tests and quarantines. Facilities closed, more than a dozen games were rescheduled and players were often ruled out.

The Cleveland Browns, for example, played -- and won -- a playoff game without their head coach and several key players.

The league reported 262 players and 462 staff members tested positive for COVID-19 out of more than 950,000 test results from Aug. 1 to Jan. 23.

Players for Sunday's Super Bowl must continue to pass through the NFL's intensive protocol before they can play. They must test negative for COVID-19 each day before the game. Meetings are virtual and social distancing is mandated at team facilities.

A positive test result at any point means a player or coach will miss the game.

There was a scare this week when two Chiefs players, wide receiver DeMarcus Robinson and center Daniel Kilgore, were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list after coming into contact with someone who could have transmitted the virus to them.

Sources told NFL Network, the Kansas City Star and ESPN that Kilgore and Robinson landed on the list after receiving haircuts from a barber who tested positive for COVID-19.

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The barber had been scheduled to give haircuts to 20 people within the Chiefs organization Sunday, but he left the team facility after he learned of his positive test. He was in the process of cutting Kilgore's hair when he got the news.

Kilgore and Robinson, who have tested negative for the virus, will be eligible to return to the Chiefs on Saturday to travel with the team and play in Super Bowl LV if tests remain negative over the next three days.

But they can't join teammates for practice leading up to Sunday's game. The Buccaneers will face the Chiefs in the Bucs' home stadium in Tampa, Fla.

Players and coaches will use their home facilities and stay at home this week as a precaution. Chiefs players and coaches will remain in Kansas City, Mo., until Saturday as an added safety measure against COVID-19.

Players didn't participate in Super Bowl opening night this year, which occurs the Monday before the game. The event is typically packed with thousands of reporters and photographers. Players will not travel around the city for media opportunities, as in-person interviews aren't allowed.

"The problem is you're fighting the invisible man," Chiefs coach Andy Reid told reporters Monday in a Zoom conference call. "It gets you when you least expect it and we're seeing that everywhere."

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Fans also have fought against the "invisible man," and will continue that battle before they can attend the game.

Fans will attend

Nearly 80% of the seats will be filled on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. Actual fans will sit in 22,000 of those seats, while cardboard cutouts will fill another 30,000 seats.

The NFL gave 7,500 healthcare workers free tickets. All will have been vaccinated before attending.

The NFL also will provide attendees with personal protective equipment kits that include a mask, hand sanitizer, a safety guide and antibacterial wipes.

Super Bowl guests will be required to wear face coverings throughout the game, unless eating or drinking. They will sit in groups of two or four and be distanced from others in the stadium. Fans also will use their phones to display admission tickets and make purchases.

Super Bowl tickets on the secondary market Wednesday were listed for between $4,700 and $40,000.

Fans will be required to fill out a form and agree to not come to the game unless they can confirm that they have not tested positive for or been exposed to COVID-19 within the last two weeks.

They also must confirm they have not experienced COVID-19 symptoms within a 48-hour period and have not traveled to any state or international territory identified by local governments as subject to travel or quarantine advisories.

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Fans also will find a different atmosphere this year in the days before the game. Athletes won't be around to sign autographs. And the Super Bowl experience -- a week of events planned for Tampa's Riverwalk area -- will require people to sign up for time slots before they arrive.

High ratings expected

Super Bowl LV will air at 6:30 p.m. EST Sunday on CBS.

CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said Wednesday he expects the game to receive the highest ratings of any program so far this year.

"I never like to predict or project what ratings will be," McManus said Wednesday during a Zoom conference call with the CBS Super Bowl broadcast team.

"If we get a good game, we will have a really good rating."

Nearly 100 million people watched Super Bowl LIV last February on Fox. That total marked the first ratings increase for the NFL finale in five years. Nielsen said 69% of homes in the United States with TVs in use had the Super Bowl on.

McManus said COVID-19 safety restrictions for bars and restaurants in the United States will increase at-home viewership totals.

This year's game could set viewership records, as the Jan. 24 NFC Championship game was the most-watched NFC Championship game since 2017. This year's AFC Championship game also received higher ratings than the 2020 AFC finale.

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On Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, cautioned armchair fans to use good judgment to stay safe at home.

"You don't want parties with people that you haven't had much contact with. You just don't know if they're infected," Fauci said on Good Morning America. "So as difficult as that is, at least this time around, just lay low and cool it."

Super Bowl halftime shows through the years

Britney Spears sings at Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa, Fla., on January 28, 2001. The Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants 34-7. Photo by John SooHoo/UPI | License Photo

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