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Column: NFL could aid in COVID-19 fight if it hits the right notes, but there is risk involved

Say the NFL plays its games this year while the coronavirus pandemic persists, and in some cities fans are allowed to attend.

You won’t see infectious disease expert Richard Garfein in the crowd.

“You wouldn’t catch me dead in a football stadium this year — or next year, probably,” said Garfein, a professor in UC San Diego’s Division of Global Public Health.

As Garfein told it, wearing a mask would be appropriate, but not his idea of a great way to spend three hours of fun time.

Nor is the local epidemiologist wild about the NFL’s chances of staging the 2020 season, calling it “really difficult to do that safely.