ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Mandatory testing to get Bills fans in the stands for Saturday’s game will be a massive and historic undertaking, the first in the country.
"It's a pretty big planning process and logistics process to get this all in place," Dr. Jon Cohen, Executive Chairman of BioReference, said.
For the 6,700 fans lucky enough to get tickets, they must get a COVID-19 test within a 72-hour window before kickoff. That will be done through BioReference, the company that does testing for the entire NFL. All fans who bought tickets will first get an email to make a reservation.
"You'll get a link from BioReference Laboratories," Dr. Cohen said, "you click on that and you will be provided the opportunity to schedule your testing in one hour different blocks on Wednesday and Thursday."
The testing will happen at the Bills Stadium starting at 6:30am on Wednesday and Thursday, taking place for about 14 hours both days.
"There will be thirty lanes of traffic so we can move people in and out fairly quickly," Dr. Cohen said.
There are no tests after Thursday to ensure everyone will have their results in time for the game. The anticipation is it would take about 24-hours.
Results will be emailed to fans, who must show the proof of negative test when entering the stadium with a valid ID. If you are positive, you won’t be allowed in. This testing format is one that BioReference says could be expanded if successful for the bills.
"Broadway, opera, movie houses, restaurants, other types of venues can begin to open with other testing plans."
All of these precautions emphasis the fact that tickets to Saturday's game cannot be sold and are non-transferrable. For anyone seeing that tickets are available online, you are asked to report that to the Better Business Bureau at the link here.
