Washington Football Team to play remainder of season without fans
The Washington Football Team on Friday announced that it would not be allowing fans at its home games for the remainder of the season due to rising cases of COVID-19.
“After careful consideration and close coordination with Prince George’s County health officials, the Washington Football Team has made the difficult decision to play the remainder of our 2020 games without fans in attendance,” the team, whose stadium is located in Landover, Md., wrote in a statement shared on Twitter and Facebook.
The team added in the statement that while it “will miss the unbridled passion of our fanbase at FedExField as we take on the Seattle Seahawks on December 20th and the Carolina Panthers on December 27th,” the organization “must remain diligent in protecting our staff, players, fans, and the community as the region continues its fight against COVID-19.”
The Maryland Department of Health on Friday recorded 2,616 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the state total to 228,471 infections. Prince George’s County has been the hardest hit in Maryland, with more than 46,000 reported cases.
The Washington Football Team is just the latest in a series of NFL teams to announce a complete ban on fans in stadiums, with some teams still allowing spectators at reduced capacity.
The New England Patriots, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers are among the teams who have announced they will not be allowing any fans at home games until further notice.
Several NFL teams have had to postpone games or adjust their seasons as players have tested positive for COVID-19.
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Dez Bryant announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday evening, just 30 minutes before kickoff of a game against the Dallas Cowboys.
“Yea I’m going to go ahead and call it a quit for the rest of the season… I can’t deal with this,” he tweeted.
A match-up between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed three times after the Ravens had experienced nine consecutive days of at least one player testing positive for the virus, with 22 players testing positive or being identified as a high-risk close contact in that time period, according to ESPN.