Local COVID-19 numbers trending wrong way for fans to be allowed inside Lambeau Field

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - It was a home opener at Lambeau Field yesterday like never before in the team’s storied history, with no fans in attendance due to the pandemic.

And right now, coronavirus trends in Brown County point to an empty stadium later in the season.

A day after the Packers beat the Lions in front of no fans, the reality of how the start of this 2020 season is being played is still sinking in.

“Very surreal, very, hard to comprehend, really kind of sad,” says fan Lynn Gornto outside the Packers Pro Shop.

“We had the urge to, oh I wish we could go in the stadium,” adds season ticket holder Lori Klinger, who watched the game on television yesterday.

With Lambeau Field off limits to fans for the first two games, the Packers say they will make a decision on Game 3, which is November 1, sometime during the first week of October.

And here’s what team president Mark Murphy had to say on Action 2 News at 4:30 late last week.

“The numbers in Brown County and the state generally are not good, so we need to see significant improvement before we would be able to have fans in the stands. We want the positive test rate to be below five-percent,” said Murphy.

Since Murphy made that comment the positive test rate in Brown County has climbed from 9.6 percent to 10.2 percent.

That’s not the only metric the Packers are watching.

“One of the keys we’re looking at is the community infection rate and that’s the number of infections per 100,000 people, and that number is much higher than we would want before we would allow people,” added Murphy.

It’s another trend in the wrong direction, with the community infection rate jumping from 2,699 per 100,000 when Murphy spoke to 2,874 per 100,000 as of last night.

Murphy made it clear last week the team will need to see significant improvement in the COVID-19 numbers before allowing fans inside Lambeau Field.