Name: Warriors vow to fans to make Chase Center ‘safest arena in country.’ Here’s how
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Warriors vow to fans to make Chase Center ‘safest arena in country.’ Here’s how

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAt first blush, everything seemed perfect Monday night at Chase Center. Stephen Curry orchestrated a virtuoso performance that included 53 points to pass Wilt Chamberlain on the franchise’s all-time scoring list, and the Warriors beat Denver to enhance playoff hopes.But, almost as he stood and cheered from a seat near courtside, Warriors President and chief operating officer Rick Welts realized that something had gone all wrong.“If anything could bring it home, it was last night,” Welts said Tuesday morning, just hours after soaking in Curry’s most recent gem. “I was looking around me and seeing that only a handful of people actually got to witness that in person. I can’t wait to get people back into the building.“Moments like that get you.”There’s no guarantee that Curry or the Warriors will produce another historic moment this season, but if it happens, there will be thousands of in-person witnesses. In an impressive dress rehearsal Tuesday, the Warriors demonstrated how fans will be welcomed back to Chase Center in what they believe is a “clear and safe” plan.After 400-plus days without fans in the arena during the coronavirus pandemic, the Warriors got approval from the San Francisco Department of Public Health last week to host up to 35% of their 18,064 capacity. Starting with the Denver game April 23, tickets for the team’s final nine games of the season went on sale for season-ticket holders Tuesday and will open to the general public Wednesday.“It has been really a Herculean effort that has required this entire organization,” said Yoyo Chan, the Warriors’ vice president of government and community relations.With the persistent backing of owner Joe Lacob, who has a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from UC Irvine and a master’s degree in public health (epidemiology) from UCLA, the Warriors went to work almost immediately after the coronavirus pandemic ended their in-person fan experiences following a 131-107 loss to the Clippers on March 10, 2020.Learning all along the way, the Warriors’ plans really went into motion in September and October, when they hosted a minicamp for the players with zero coronavirus transmission, according to team physician Dr. Robert Nied.A month later, they presented a plan for 50% capacity that was denied by the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Since then, the Warriors have refined a robust protocol that includes masking, spacing, ventilating, cleaning and cohorting.Oh, and testing.“Testing will be a linchpin in keeping fans safe as they come into the arena,” Nied said.The Warriors were among the first three major entertainment venues to receive the Global Biorisk Advisory Council’s Star facility accreditation for adhering to the most stringent cleaning, disinfecting, disease-mitigation protocol, but what sets Chase Center apart is the testing.To enter the arena, a fan must be fully vaccinated or test negative for coronavirus within 48 hours of the opening tip. When a fan purchases a ticket at least seven days before a game, a Lucira Health test will be sent to the fan’s home, at no additional charge.Kelly Lewis Brezoczky, the executive vice president of Lucira Health, headquartered in Emeryville, said the in-home tests have proven accurate at 98% compared to the gold standard of lab-based PCR tests that include machines about the size of two minivans.In a 75-second video Tuesday, Brezoczky showed a relatively simple process that includes a two-battery, kitchen-counter-size test.Linking science and technology, a fan’s digitally rotating barcode of a ticket and negative coronavirus test will be linked on a single mobile application for entry into Chase Center. Once in the arena, similar technology will use 600 beacons to lead a fan through food and beverage options, nearby restrooms and postgame transit.The Warriors will remove the tarps that have covered the seats in the lower bowl for most of the season and lift the championship banners back to the rafters, so they can distance two- or four-seat pods throughout the arena.Masks will have to be worn the entire time a fan spends in the “bowl,” as eating and drinking will be allowed only in the concourse and outdoor spaces.Chase Center general manager Kim Stone promises to “air flush” the arena, bringing outdoor air inside an hour before every game, and claims the facility’s HVAC system can change the air in the bowl four times per hour.The arena’s MERV rating, an air filter’s minimum efficiency reporting value, has been upgraded from 13 to 15. According to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, a rating of 17 would be good enough to be used in a surgical operating room.“Rest assured, we’ve spent every single hour of every single one of the (400-plus) days redesigning and reimaging the experience of Chase Center,” Stone said. “The No. 1 goal is making sure we emerge from this as the safest arena in the country.”Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAt first blush, everything seemed perfect Monday night at Chase Center. Stephen Curry orchestrated a virtuoso performance that included 53 points to pass Wilt Chamberlain on the franchise’s all-time scoring list, and the Warriors beat Denver to enhance playoff hopes.But, almost as he stood and cheered from a seat near courtside, Warriors President and chief operating officer Rick Welts realized that something had gone all wrong.“If anything could bring it home, it was last night,” Welts said Tuesday morning, just hours after...

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Rusty Simmons

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Warriors vow to fans to make Chase Center ‘safest arena in country.’ Here’s how

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