TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – So much for the mayor’s order to require masks at Super Bowl parties. Crowds of mostly maskless fans took to the streets and packed sports bars as the clock at Raymond James Stadium made home a Super Bowl victory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“It’s a little frustrating because we’ve worked so hard,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said during a Monday morning news conference with the Super Bowl hosts committee. “Right now in dealing with COVID-19 there is some frustration when you see it.”
About 200,000 masks were handed out before the game, and a ‘majority’ of people and businesses followed the rules, she said.
To comply with the coronavirus protocols, the NFL confined the crowd below 25,000 in a stadium that typically holds about 66,000 fans, and required their masks.
But outside the stadium, there are crowds of fans who did not wear masks or socialize, celebrating the Buccaneers’ 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. People cheered, crammed into pubs and strolled into various hotspots in the city – and the streets bustled – all without masks.
Hoping to curb so-called super-distribution events, Castor has signed an executive order requiring people to wear face masks during the Super Bowl festivals, even while outdoors. She pleaded with people to celebrate safely.
Across Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Mayor Rick Kriseman was already unhappy about a maskless party hosted by rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson in a hangar at Albert Whitted Airport on Friday night. Photos of the party posted on social media showed a dense event with few people wearing masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus.
“This is not how we should celebrate the Super Bowl,” the mayor said tweeted on Saturday. “It’s not safe or smart. This is stupid. We are going to look at it very carefully, and it could end up costing someone more than 50 cents. ”
The country’s leading expert on infectious diseases, Dr Anthony Fauci, also warned against turning the Super Bowl into a super-distributor and saying before the game that “people just have to lie down and cool down.”
According to state health reports, Florida has recorded 1.7 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and more than 28,000 deaths. State officials said Sunday that 667,830 people in Florida have been completely vaccinated against COVID-19.
Castor said the city and Buccaneers are planning an official celebration that will be held later this week.
“This win was from the Buccaneer team, but this win was for our entire community,” she said. ‘They deserve to be able to celebrate with the team. Everyone will be able to participate and participate safely. ”
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Frisaro reported from Fort Lauderdale.