Big events begin to close to fans as virus threat hangs over area sports
The threat of coronavirus continues to cast a shadow of uncertainty for regional sports, from high schools to community colleges and next week’s March Madness stopover at Golden 1 Center for two rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Sacramento State athletic director Mark Orr is in Boise this week to watch the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball tournament that includes the Hornets men’s team. He is keeping a pulse on the coronavirus concerns because Sac State is the host school for the March madness at Golden 1.
“This stuff is all nuts,” Orr said of the confusion over coronavirus. “Everyone is still trying to figure it all out. It’s been all over the map. I know the NCAA is monitoring it. We all are. We’re trying to make sure what’s in the best interest of health and safety. There’s no protocol for this. We’re all listening to experts who are a lot smarter on this stuff than we are. We’re hopeful everything will be OK.”
Sac State president Robert S. Nelsen normally attends the Big Sky tournament. This week, he’s remaining at Sac State to keep a pulse on things, Orr said
Across the country, there remains a push for awareness, safety and not getting into panic mode.
On Monday, Santa Clara County placed a ban on gatherings of 1,000 or more people, effective
allowed to attend NCAA tournament games scheduled to be held next week in Dayton and Cleveland. The Mid-American Conference announced Tuesday that the rest of its men’s and women’s tournaments in Cleveland would be closed to the public.
The Big West Conference followed suit, closing its men’s (Honda Center) and women’s (Long Beach Pyramid and Honda Center) tournaments to the public.
The media that descends upon Las Vegas this week for the Pac-12 tournament also will be fewer than usual. The Seattle Times is not sending Percy Allen, its longtime Washington basketball beat writer, or any columnists as a protective measure. Seattle Times sports editor Paul Barrett said in an email to the Los Angeles Times that his newspaper had suspended all non-essential travel “with the health and safety of our employees in mind,” hiring a freelancer to cover the games.
Asked about writers remaining in Seattle, a hotbed of virus contamination, Barrett said, “Our policy is intended to minimize any potential impacts to our employees, based on guidance we have received.”
The Pac-12 said Tuesday afternoon that media would be barred from locker rooms while being given access to players and coaches at a separate designated area, a measure similar to those enacted by the NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer aimed at preventing close contact that might enable the spread of the virus. The Pac-12 also said it would enact enhanced cleaning protocols inside T-Mobile Arena and provided additional access to hand sanitizers.
UCLA freshman guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. said he would take the recommended steps to protect himself from the virus, frequently washing his hands and coughing into his shoulder.