Kansas City Chiefs Release Statement on COVID-19 Positive Fan

The Kansas City Chiefs released a statement on Thursday regarding a fan who attended Thursday night's game against the Houston Texans who tested positive for COVID-19.

The full text of the Chiefs' statement is as follows:

As the City of Kansas City Health Department has reported, a guest who attended Thursday night's game at Arrowhead Stadium has presented positive for COVID-19. We have worked in close cooperation with Dr. Rex Archer and the Kansas City Health Department to provide all of the relevant information available.

The contact tracing mechanisms that the club has in place, including parking and ticket scanning data, as well as video record review, indicate that the individual who has presented positive and the individual's party entered the stadium in compliance with mask mandates. This process allowed the team to identify the other guests sitting with this individual, the service staff with whom this individual may have come in contact with, as well as any other ticket holders near this person at the time of entry into the stadium. Within hours of being notified, the Chiefs were able to pinpoint the names of the other members of the party as well as detailed information about the path and location of entry, and this information was provided to the Health Department. The tracing capabilities at the stadium allow the extension of communication to learn more about the guest's activity the days leading up to and after the game Thursday night.

The individual and the individual's group were seated in the lower level of the stadium. By design, the stadium's COVID protocol plan limited potential exposure to a single seating zone within the stadium. All staff with known interactions with the positive case were required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE), including a mask. Additionally, the protocols in place at the stadium require all attendees to be wearing masks inside the stadium.

Compliance with the protocols remains a key component to making this plan effective. We appreciate the professionalism and diligence of the Health Department and will continue to support its efforts in this matter and throughout the season.

As previously noted by Sam McDowell of The Kansas City Star, events with more than 1,000 people in Jackson County would come with a greater than 99% chance of having at least one COVID-positive attendee.

For events with 1,000+ people in Jackson County, there's a greater than 99% chance someone in the building has COVID-19. https://t.co/Cu6CUFYjFb
— Sam McDowell (@SamMcDowell11) August 17, 2020