The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of everyone, and will impact where the 49ers play their remaining home games.
Santa Clara County, home of the 49ers' Levi's Stadium, released new COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday that ban all contact sports and mandate a 14-day quarantine for anyone traveling into the area from 150 miles away, meaning the 49ers will need a new home to finish the 2020 season.
The news came as a shock to 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, who spoke on the matter for the first time following his team's last-second 23-20 win over the Rams on Sunday in Los Angeles.
"It was a very disappointing thing what we got yesterday," Shanahan said, via ESPN's Nick Wagoner. "For us to be find that out while we're getting on a plane ... it was extremely disappointing."
Shanahan added the team was not warned ahead of time of the impending ban, finding out via social media and receiving little additional information from county officials on the reasoning behind the decision or how the 49ers' situation might negatively affect the county's COVID-19 issues, per Wagoner and The Athletic's David Lomardi.
"We've been working with them as a partner trying to figure it out," Shanahan said. "For everyone to find out without them telling us, it was extremely disappointing."
Niners running back Raheem Mostert was particularly emotional, per reporters, discussing the uncertainty facing the team.
"Right now we don't have a home. Right now we don't know where we're gonna be," Mostert said.
Earlier Sunday, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported the 49ers' most likely option is to play their final three home games at the Arizona Cardinals' home of State Farm Stadium, located in Glendale, Arizona. The 49ers' divisional rivals are willing to accommodate them, Rapoport reported.
The NFL would like the 49ers to find a home in an existing NFL stadium before exploring other options, such as major Division I collegiate stadiums, per Rapoport.
The 49ers will also have to find a home for practicing, meaning all Santa Clara operations are no longer feasible amid the current circumstances. That might require establishing a home and practice facility in another area in a pseudo bubble, per Rapoport, or have the 49ers practice outside of the 150-mile range of Santa Clara -- which would allow players to still see their families from time to time -- and then travel to their new "home" stadium for their games.
"I'm not sure. I know we’re working our tail off to figure it out," Shanahan said, via Lombardi. ... "You guys want to know the answer. So do our wives, so does everyone who knows us."
Either way, the 49ers' home slate as they know it is no longer possible. In a season in which the team has been forced to deal with both COVID-19 changes and an onslaught of injuries, this becomes yet another massive hurdle for Shanahan's bunch to overcome.
