Norman Mayor's New COVID-19 Restrictions Will Not Impact Last OU Home Football Game

Norman’s new COVID-19 restrictions go into effect Monday. 

They include limiting bar and restaurant capacity and group gatherings, but this weekend marks the last OU football home game. University officials said they’re planning to let 25% of their stadium capacity in the stands for now. 

Norman Mayor Breea Clark announced the new restrictions Friday to fight the recent increase in cases and hospitalizations. 

Norman officials said the three-day rolling average of new cases reached its highest point ever November 23 with 125 cases per day. The seven-day rolling average is at nearly 94 cases per day.

“We need to do better and our first responders and medical professionals deserve some help,” said Clark.

The restrictions include reducing bar and restaurant capacity to 50% and limiting gatherings to 50 people or less.

“Hopefully, these restrictions will be in place to get us through this next tough period,” said Clark. “Again, they’re not going to be in place any longer than they have to be.”

However, it's a little different for OU and for fans headed to the game. 

According to the city, the university is located on state property, which allows them to implement their own regulations and guidelines. 

OU said though they have no plans to increase limits on stadium capacity, they still urge everyone to take the necessary precautions.

In a statement, they said:

“The university will do its part and will continue to be an active partner to the City of Norman as the City leadership works to limit the spread of COVID-19.”

“My hope will be that we’ll not only get the numbers back down, but then they start to flatten a little bit,” said Clark. “I think that’ll be the time when we start easing up, but it's really hard to predict when that’ll be.”

Clark said she’s unsure how long these new guidelines will stay in place.