UCLA Athletics to Welcome Fans Back to Indoor Events After COVID-19 Hiatus
Fans will once again be allowed to pack the bleachers in Westwood.
A UCLA Athletics spokesperson told All Bruins on Friday night that all fans are once again permitted to attend indoor competitions on campus. The first event set to be impacted by the return of fans is UCLA men's volleyball's match against Penn State at Pauley Pavilion scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The department previous instituted a new COVID-19 attendance policy back on Jan. 11 that restricted those in attendance to family members of coaches and student-athletes. That policy was set to expire Friday, but instead of extending it through Jan. 28 like Pac-12 compatriot Stanford, UCLA lifted the ban on the general public effective immediately, as was scheduled.
Crosstown contemporary USC will be welcoming back fans as well after a similar policy put into place earlier this month, but according to a report by the Los Angeles Times, the Trojans will only be allowing 50% capacity at the Galen Center.
There will be no such attendance caps in Westwood, but masks will continue to be required regardless of vaccination status. According to the statement put out by UCLA Athletics, failure to comply with the mask mandate could result in future events being held without fans.
Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test will still be required on entry, as was the case in 2021.
After the men's volleyball team breaks in the new environment, No. 9 UCLA men's basketball will be the next team to take the floor at Pauley Pavilion with their home crowd cheering them on.
The Bruins will host No. 3 Arizona on Tuesday, a makeup game that was rescheduled earlier in the week and just so happened to fit in after the attendance restrictions were set to end. The restrictions were not extended, and the Wildcats will be welcomed by a blue and gold crowd that they haven't won in front of since January 2017.
UCLA men's basketball had two home games during the 10-day fan hiatus, losing to Oregon and beating Oregon State. UCLA women's basketball had one game impacted, and it still managed to beat USC by 23 points on Thursday night.
UCLA gymnastics was not impacted by the attendance policy, and is now in line to host fans for its home-opening meet against Arizona on Jan. 30.
The seven-day average of daily COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles county peaked on Jan. 14 and has been trending down in the week since.
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