By Cecilia Cantu
MU students plan their Super Bowl Sunday around general COVID-19 restrictions, both on and off-campus.
The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday, Feb. 7, in their second consecutive Super Bowl appearance, stirring great excitement among MU fans.
This excitement is clear in Columbia and MU. Despite the possibility of crowds in cities and increased travel between cities, the university has not widely promoted or encouraged specific COVID-19 guidelines to remain safe.
The university even appears to be encouraging in-person social gatherings on social media. MU’s Campus Activities Programming Board recently posted about hosting a watch party inside the MU Student Center with “snacks provided.”
When several MU representatives were contacted for comment, none responded.
Many students have planned to celebrate using their own judgement when it comes to COVID-19 regulations.
Sophomore Alexandra Gast plans to return to her family home to celebrate. However, this year’s celebration will be without some of the normal faces.
Despite the situation, Gast said she remains excited about the festivities.
“We will cook a nice meal and have snacks and celebrate,” Gast said. “I haven’t seen [my family] since I returned to campus in the middle of January.”
Freshman Ian Holdinghausen planned his weekend similarly. Both students said they looked forward to a day of family and home cooked meals.
“I’m planning to head to my hometown to celebrate,” Holdinghausen said. “I can’t wait to watch it with family and my girlfriend … There will likely be some very delicious food.”
However, the fear of students contracting COVID-19 has not left their minds.
“Normally, I would [be concerned for my safety traveling],” Holdinghausen said. “Luckily, all I plan on doing is drive to my house and back. It also helps that I got COVID around two weeks before I came back to Mizzou.”
The students are not the only group at MU with COVID-19 on their minds. Agricultural Professor David Cletzer has maintained social distancing orders for months and plans to continue this weekend.
“I’m the lamest… [my wife and I] don’t go anywhere because of COVID,” Cletzer said. “We take it really seriously, so we will be watching from home.”
Despite efforts across the nation, the impacts of the virus continue to worsen and break previous records. According to the COVID Tracking Project, January was the deadliest month for Americans with a total of 92,795 deaths. This compares to the previous worst month, December 2020, which had a total of 74,623 American deaths.
Although the Raymond James Stadium hosting the game is implementing social distancing guidelines, it will still host 22,000 fans in-person.
_Edited by Joy Mazur | jmazur@themaneater.com_
