Sport across the United States and Canada was gripped by coronavirus fears on Wednesday, with basketball, baseball, soccer and ice hockey all hit as local authorities ordered bans on spectators at sporting events.
Days after the Indian Wells tennis tournament in California became the highest profile casualty of the crisis, mounting concern over the possible spread of COVID-19 prompted Canadian authorities to cancel the World Figure Skating Championships, which were due to take place in Montreal from March 16-22.
The decision came after escalating anxiety about the potential for unchecked transmission of the virus amongst fans attending sporting events.
In the western states of Washington and California – two regions battling significant outbreaks – local authorities issued bans on large gatherings of spectators.
In San Francisco, officials announced a two-week ban on all gatherings of crowds larger than 1,000 people.
The Golden State Warriors NBA team immediately confirmed it would play Thursday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets at San Francisco’s Chase Center behind closed doors.
“Due to escalating concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, and in consultation with the City and County of San Francisco, tomorrow night’s game vs. the Nets at Chase Center will be played without fans,” the Warriors said.
All other events at the venue scheduled through March 21 would be postponed or cancelled, the team said.
The San Francisco Giants baseball team said a planned pre-season game against the Oakland Athletics on March 24 would be rescheduled.
A similar directive in neighboring Santa Clara County forced the postponement of a March 21 Major League Soccer game between the San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting Kansas City.
In Washington state, authorities announced a ban on all gatherings of more than 250 people in three counties until at least the end of March, including the area which covers Seattle.
– ‘More aggressive position’ –
“It is clear that our state needs a more vigorous and more comprehensive and more aggressive position if we are going to slow the spread of this epidemic,” Washington governor Jay Inslee said.
The MLS’s Seattle Sounders later said a game against FC Dallas on March 21 had been postponed.
The Seattle Mariners baseball said they would seek to reschedule the club’s opening home games of the 2020 season, which had been set for late March.
In Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine said he would make a formal order to prevent teams, including the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets, from allowing fans into venues.
Meanwhile, the wildly popular climax to the US college basketball season – “March Madness” – will be played in virtually fan-free arenas after the NCAA said only relatives and essential personnel would be allowed at games.
“I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance,” National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) president Mark Emmert said.
The NCAA took the unprecedented move after consulting public health officials.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, believes NBA games should be played without fans to limit risk of exposure to the new coronavirus
So far, the major professional sports leagues in North America have not followed suit, stopping short of blanket edicts restricting spectator access.
However, earlier Wednesday, a senior US public health official urged the NBA to stage games behind closed doors to fight the spread of the disease.
Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a US Congressional panel in Washington that the agency believed any large gatherings of people represented a risk of COVID-19 spreading.
“We would recommend that there not be large crowds. If that means not having any people in the audience, as the NBA plays, so be it,” Fauci said. “Anything that has large crowd is something that would give the risk to spread.”
Fauci is the most senior official to publicly advocate for sports to be played in fan-free arenas as the United States battles the coronavirus outbreak.
Fans shut out as #coronavirus fears grip US sport https://t.co/9Jv1lE5mdp #COVID19
— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) March 12, 2020
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ESPN reported on Wednesday that the NBA was studying a range of measures to mitigate the spread of the virus, including moving games to neutral venues or cities without outbreaks.
The NBA has already eliminated media from locker rooms, a staple of US team sport post-game interaction, in what the league vows will be a temporary measure.
According to US health officials, more than 1,000 people in the United States have contracted the coronavirus and at least 31 deaths have been attributed to it.