Covid-19 Did Not Attend Super Bowl 56

The hypocrisy on display At Sofi Stadium during Super Bowl 56 was beyond that of satire. On Sunday, February 13th, over 70,000 patrons willingly packed in to watch the Rams, Bengals, and one of the most lackluster halftime shows in recent years. They showed a star-studded lineup of America’s biggest celebrities, proving that they believe in “Rules for thee but not for me.”

Inglewood Mayor, James Butts stated that “This is going to be one of the safest, most glamorous Super Bowls in the history of Super Bowls,”; but despite this statement, to find a masked face in the crowd proved to be an impossible game of Where’s Waldo. On the heels of many blue states overturning their mask mandates, Los Angeles County never aligned with the states dropping of their mandatory requirements. SoFi Stadium provided free KN95 masks and mandated masks for everyone TWO years and older, but the enforcer of this policy seems to have called off from work this day. 

Governor Gavin Newsom has been seen breaking Covid protocol on several occasions over the past years, and Sunday was no different. He was seen with Mayor Eric Garcetti, and much like the week prior at the NFC Championship, both were witnessed maskless. The fallout from that game led to protests by high school students because of the blatant disregard for the mandates these government officials helped create and enforce. Despite the fact we know they have the ability to hold their breath for the entire 4-hour game, this dynamic duo had not learned their lesson about America’s hatred of hypocrites.

Ellen DeGeneres was in attendance with her wife, where they both were photographed with no masks. Meanwhile, to go to Ellen’s show, all audience members must remain masked the entire taping, on top of being fully vaccinated. Prior to your entrance, you must provide a negative PCR test as well. Upon arrival to the filming, after showing your negative PCR test, you need to provide your vaccination card as well as a government-issued photo ID. It’s safe to say the audience selection process of Ellen’s show is more regulated than our current presidential elections.

From one perspective, I loved watching the game because it seems like a return to the America that we loved and remembered. But the beauty of getting back to normal came to a screeching halt the next morning when I had to mask up my 4-year-old before he walked into Pre-K. We need our public officials to provide clarity and consistency towards these rules. The children have the lowest rate of vaccination as well as the lowest rate of hospitalization from Covid-19. The CDC has announced that more kids have been hospitalized with Covid than for Covid, and fewer than 700 children out of the 73 million in the US have died. This percentage is drastically lower than any other group, but kids are being demonized as super spreaders. If adults refuse to take the precautions they set in place, we need to maintain the same precautions across the board!