Officials urge mask-wearing for fans attending Super Bowl

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Three days after being photographed without a face mask at the NFC championship game, Mayor Eric Garcetti joined other officials Wednesday to urge fans headed for the Super Bowl to strictly adhere to pandemic safety protocols that include staying masked, except while eating or drinking.

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The Los Angeles area continues to see high levels of COVID-19 infections, and ticket holders ages 5 and older must show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test to enter. Under a Los Angeles County health order, masks are required at all times, with limited exceptions.

The biggest challenge at the Super Bowl might not be on the field, with officials acknowledging there was no way to constantly police 70,000 people. At the championship game Sunday at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles, where the Super Bowl will be played, thousands of fans openly disregarded the mask mandate.

"You can’t force everybody to wear a mask all the time," said James Butts, mayor of Inglewood, where the stadium is located. "In the end, it’s the responsibility of the people to take care of themselves, their families and their friends. And that’s the simplest way I can put it."

But flagrant violators might get a reminder.

Slipping off a mask to take a bite of a snack "doesn’t mean buy a bucket of popcorn and eat it for two hours," warned Russ Simons, senior adviser of facilities at the stadium. "The staff is on hand to remind people to mask up."

Garcetti wasn't alone in facing criticism for shedding his mask last weekend, if even for a moment. Gov. Gavin Newsom and San Francisco Mayor London Breed also were photographed