San Francisco, one of several California cities on-guard as coronavirus concerns increase (photo: Hardik Pandya)
California Department of Public Health (CDPH) officials have recommended that events involving more than 250 people—that is, the vast majority of sporting outings, concerts, and music festivals—be postponed until the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic’s spread is completely under control.
The statewide recommendation comes as a growing number of large-scale events, including Austin’s SXSW, Indio’s Coachella, and Los Angeles’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), are being canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus. To be sure, recent weeks have seen multiple concert tours, music festivals, and industry conventions put on ice due to COVID-19 fears.
In response to the CDPH’s safety-minded order, the MLB is reportedly creating something of a contingency plan that would allow spring training games and the regular season to proceed mostly as scheduled. Reports have indicated that this plan will be detailed in a press conference on Friday, but the MLB hasn’t publicly commented on the matter.
Also worth noting is that the CDPH order recommends public events comprised of less than 250 guests separate each of these individuals by six or more feet. In other words, smaller gatherings may be canceled as a result of space limitations, should organizers wish to fully comply with the CDPH’s specifications.
Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom responded to the growing prevalence of COVID-19 by declaring a state of emergency.
To date, California has diagnosed 177 individuals with the coronavirus. Importantly, about 80 of these infections are said to have resulted from travel, and new California cases haven’t been reported since Monday.
On the international front, governments have had a generally harder time containing COVID-19. Iran reported over 1,000 new COVID-19 diagnoses overnight, pushing the Middle Eastern state’s grand total above 10,000. And India, which has identified 77 domestic instances of COVID-19, announced that it will cease issuing tourist visas until April 15th.
However, some recent coronavirus headlines and developments have proven relatively positive. Wuhan, China, where the infection is thought to have originated from, has managed to reduce its daily tally of new cases to the double digits—a considerable feat, given that more than 80,000 COVID-19 infections have been diagnosed in the city.
Additionally, all 16 of Wuhan’s temporary hospitals have been closed. Sadly, it’s difficult to verify any claims coming from the Chinese government, which has been heavily committed to masking the truth.
Australia has just announced limiting non essential public gatherings to under 500 people, 500 or above is banned.
This includes sports events & concerts.