Footage of the jampacked T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas during the fight of Sen. Manny Pacquiao last weekend raised some concerns among Filipinos who are still avoiding crowded areas.
Photos and videos of the much-anticipated match between Pacquiao and Olympian Yordenis Ugas showed aarena amid the still ongoing health crisis.
There were 17,438 people who watched the WBA (Super) welterweight championship between Pacquiao and Cuban fighter Yordenis Ugas in person. The T-Mobile Arena has a seating capacity of 20,000 people.
Boxing presenter Michelle Joy Phelps shared on August 22 a video clip of the roaring crowd following Pacquiao’s entrance to the ring.
“Manny Pacquiao still a big draw. Looks as though the T-Mobile Arena is sold out tonight for #PacquiaoUgas,” Phelps said.
Manny Pacquiao still a big draw. Looks as though the T-Mobile Arena is sold out tonight for #PacquiaoUgas pic.twitter.com/prvqYM3c36
— Michelle Joy Phelps (@MichellePhelps) August 22, 2021
Some Filipinos noticed the huge number of people in the venue with no health protocols being observed.
They quipped that the pandemic might have been over in that part of the world.
“COVID who?!” one user said.
“What pandemic are you talking about?” another wrote.
“Look at the crowd…ansabe ng pandemic?” another user commented.
Pacquiao lost his bout to Ugas in a unanimous decision last Saturday night, August 21 (US time). The judges scored 115-113 116-112 116-112 in favor of the Cuban boxer.
The 42-year-old fighter still has an impressive boxing record of 62-8-2.
He was initially slated to fight WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. However, the latter figured in an eye injury that prompted him to withdraw.
Ugas took his place in less than two weeks’ notice.
“Everyone said he was the champion, now they know who the real champion is,” he said via a translator.
READ: Pacquiao beaten by Ugas in welterweight title fight, considers his future
U.S. vaccine coverage
The United States still has the highest number of COVID-19 cases, according to John Hopkins University of Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center.
In a 28-day monitoring period, there are 3,242,510 recorded COVID-19 infections and 17,553 deaths.
Its vaccination campaign, which is touted to be the biggest in history, seemed to be promising.
As of August 22, at least 363 million doses had already been administered, thus covering 56.7% of their population, according to Bloomberg’s COVID-19 vaccine tracker.
In the state of Nevada, where the city of Las Vegas is located, 3.13 million doses had already been administered, thus covering 53.1% of their population.
Nevada was completely reopened last June 1.
Bloomberg also stated that the US has a swift rollout of COVID-19 jabs and many states still have an ample supply.
CNN Health earlier reported that the sudden outbreaks of COVID-19 cases and the rise of hospitalizations prompted many Americans to receive COVID-19 jabs in the past six weeks.
This rendered a 70% higher vaccination rate than a month ago.
Amid this vaccination campaign, hospitals in the US were also strained with the rapid spread of the Delta variant.
In another report by USAToday, some states have started implementing stricter restrictions again on social distancing and the mandatory wearing of face masks in public.
Last June, Nevada directed all people, both vaccinated and not, to wear face masks in all places.