Warriors bar fans as health official backs empty arenas during Covid-19 pandemic
The Golden State Warriors will play the Brooklyn Nets in an empty arena on Wednesday night as a top US health official recommended teams should not allow fans into stadiums.
The news came as the coronavirus outbreak continued to spread throughout the US, and the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a pandemic. San Francisco, the home of the Warriors, has banned meetings of more than 1,000 people for the next two weeks due to the outbreak.
“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,” read a statement from the Warriors. “Fans with tickets to this game will receive a refund in the amount paid.”
ESPN reports that the Warriors will continue to play home games behind closed doors for the “foreseeable future”. There are also reports that the NBA and MLB are considering whether teams in affected areas should play their home games in other cities.
Earlier on Wednesday Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a congressional committee he believed basketball games should be played without fans in attendance while the pandemic is in effect.
“We would recommend that there not be large crowds,” Fauci said. “If that means not having any people in the audience when the NBA plays, so be it. But as a public health official, anything that has crowds is something that would give a risk to spread.”