Alejandro Avila
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The Minnesota Timberwolves are mandating masks and proof of vaccination for all attendees’ seeking entry to home games at Target Center.
Mandatory masking will go into effect on Sunday, Jan. 16. The venue’s vaccination policy will begin on Jan. 30.
Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes relayed the new COVID guidelines, made in response to Minneapolis‘ recently announced vaccination passport plan — prohibiting all unvaccinated citizens from patronizing at indoor establishments without proof of the jab or proof of a negative COVID test.
Minnesota (20-21) has won four of their last five contests and is slated behind the Los Angeles Lakers as the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference.
The team released a statement on Wednesday, clarifying the restriction, which extends to fans as young as 5. Children younger than the minimum age must provide proof of a negative COVID result “within 72 hours.”
“This policy applies to fans age 5 and older. Fans 2-4 years of age will need to provide a negative test administered by a health professional within 72 hours of the game date. We continue to support and comply with state and local guidelines for the health and safety of all.”
Similar planning by cities like Los Angeles has yet to produce salient data backing indefinite restrictions as cases soar to all-time highs. What the county and state officials continue to avoid is the Omicron variant’s changing nature with higher transmissibility and waning lethal effects. As LA watches its cases shoot up, their death rate has fallen to dips previously seen in Oct., per New York Times‘ COVID tracker.
California officials’ fatalist approach with staying under the thumb of COVID restrictions inspired the NFL to hold a contingency plan on a spare venue for Super Bowl 56 in Dallas — should Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium be further limited by February’s time.
Follow along on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela
Welp, it looks like I won’t be going to any Minnesota Timberwolves games anytime soon.
This is a microcosm of the Timberwolves franchise. Let’s implement something that has been proven not to work and will fail. Why would anyone attend their games?
Do not comply. None of us NEEDS professional basketball. Or, just watch it on TV.
The Timberwolves have not been in the playoffs since 2004. The NBA doesn’t deserve your money. The anti science and pro China league can continue its free fall.
The state that gave you gov Jessie “The Body” Ventura and senator Al “Stuart Smally “Franken what a bunch of dopes
I support this. I’d love to see the NBA keep whittling down their fanbase until they have nobody left. Then maybe we could build up a new professional basketball league that doesn’t double as political propaganda.