Miami Dolphins plan to have up to 13,000 fans in attendance for their home-opener in one month and some are questioning how safe the plan is

• The Miami Dolphins announced that they plan to have up to 13,000 fans in attendance for their home opener on September 20.
• The Dolphins plan to allow fans in Hard Rock Stadium includes socially-distance seating clusters, touchless bathrooms, increase entry and exit points, and mandatory face masks.
• Many NFL teams have announced they won't have fans in attendance, with Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott calling the lack of a uniform policy "ridiculous."

The NFL season kicks off in less than three weeks, and the Miami Dolphins are planning to have fans in attendance to watch games.

The Dolphins announced on Monday that they plan to have a maximum of 13,000 fans in attendance for their September 20 home opener against the Buffalo Bills.

The announcement comes as multiple teams have announced they won't have fans in attendance for their home openers. The Dolphins said their plan received accreditation by the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), a Division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association.

The plan includes a number of safety precautions:

• Socially distance clusters of seats
• More security checkpoints to space out fans
• No tailgating, with parking lots opening two hours before kick-off
• Cashless vendors
• No-touch toilets, sinks, and paper towel dispensers
• Mandatory masks when not eating and drinking
• Hospital-grade air circulators

Additionally, the Dolphins said that at the end of games, ushers will release individual rows to avoid over-crowding.

The safety of the plan has been questioned by both reporters, experts, and members of the NFL.

—Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) August 24, 2020

Zachary Binney, an epidemiologist at Oxford College of Emory University, tweeted that the risk of having fans is not worth the reward.

—Zachary Binney (@zbinney_NFLinj) August 24, 2020

Bills head coach Sean McDermott called it "ridiculous" that there is no uniform plan for whether fans will be allowed in stadiums this season.

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