NEW YORK, Feb 10 (Reuters) – New York state will allow large stadiums such as Citi Field and Madison Square Garden to reopen for sports and concerts later this month, with very limited capacity and other measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Any stadium with a capacity greater than 10,000 can host events starting Feb. 23 at 10% capacity, provided the state Department of Health approves its safety plans, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.
The Barclays Center in Brooklyn already obtained approval for a basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Sacramento Kings that day, Cuomo said.
Some venues, including Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, have been designated as mass vaccination centers. State officials said they would discuss with site administrators how to continue vaccination efforts once sports and concerts return.
Stadiums must enforce all COVID-19 prevention measures, such as mandatory mask use and social distancing, Cuomo said. Attendees must show evidence that they tested negative for coronavirus within 72 hours prior to the start of the event.
In January, Cuomo allowed a limited number of spectators in a Buffalo Bills NFL playoff game, the team’s first in 24 years.
It was the first time that viewers had attended a professional sporting event in upstate New York since the coronavirus halted sports in mid-March.
About 6,700 fans attended the game at the 72,000-seat Bills Stadium in Orchard Park, a western New York suburb. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York. Edited in Spanish by Rodrigo Charme)
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