After watching a portion of FC Cincinnati's Thursday training session, General Manager Gerard Nijkamp emerged from a chair stationed along the touchline of Field One at the Mercy Health Training Facility.

The practice session was halted and Nijkamp stepped onto the field to inform his players that MLS play would be halted for 30 days due to concerns for the spread of novel coronavirus, which is now declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

Training then continued and Nijkamp went to address the assembled media, sharing the limited information he had at the time.

"We received the official statement of the league that they (suspend) the league matches for 30 days, and of course we respect (it). We have to respect the decision," Nijkamp said. "Public health is the most important thing for all of us. The last few days we spoke intensively with all the stakeholders – public health, the league – what to do with our first home opener and we are relieved that they make a decision and we have to see in the next hours, what that has impact for the team. Can we still continue training session here at Mercy Health Training Center? For now, I don't have more information about that."

Team President Jeff Berding spoke later Thursday and announced the club would look to maintain some operations, including training for FC Cincinnati players and the continuation of the club's search for a permanent head-coach replacement.

Berding said fans should anticipate further announcements in the days and weeks to come, and that MLS would work with clubs to "reschedule all the games."

"The goal is so that we will have a full 17-match home schedule in our final season here at Nippert (Stadium)," Berding said. "More communication will be coming out about the specifics of rescheduling but I want to be clear to all of our fans and all of our partners that the goal is that the league would reschedule all affected matches so that we would play a full 34-match schedule."

FC Cincinnati has three matches listed as officially postponed as a result of the 30-day suspension, including Saturday's scheduled match against D.C. United along with games against Toronto FC (March 21) and Atlanta United (April 5).

Berding also detailed actions taken by the club in recent weeks to brace for the possibility of of a novel-coronavirus health crisis.

"We want to thank our fans and all of our partners for their patience and support as we work through an unprecedented crisis here over the past several days," Berding said. "We began having a daily meeting on coronavirus early last week and to begin to prepare for the implications on our season. The values of our club have been very clear from Day One, to be supportive of our families and to make a positive impact in the community, and we understood that leadership was going to be necessary to deal appropriately with this issue.

"The MLS decision today to suspend the season for 30 days while the league continues to assess coronavirus and the spread in this country is one that was unanimous and supported by all clubs. We feel very strongly in FC Cincinnati that that was absolutely the appropriate decision to make, and to put the public health of our fans and our communities, and to take leadership in reducing the transmission of this dangerous virus. It was absolutely the right decision to take. It's a decision that we have been working toward and preparing for here over the past several days, and obviously we're pleased that the league made the decision that they made."

FC Cincinnati announced some club-specific operations have also been affected by the suspension.

• FC Cincinnati Academy operations – including training and games – are suspended until April 3. • FC Cincinnati Foundation “Served by the Pros” charitable event on March 22 will be rescheduled. • All scheduled player appearances will be cancelled. • The club’s MLS WORKS Greener Goals service projects on April 8 and April 14 will rescheduled to later dates. • The FC Cincinnati Downtown Shop’s hours of operations will be adjusted.

More information – including ticket policies – about FC Cincinnati’s affected matches will be announced in the very near future, club officials said.

FC Cincinnati originally indicated it would make a decision regarding Saturday's home opener at Nippert Stadium after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued further instructions to help prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

In a statement issued Wednesday night regarding concerns about the novel coronavirus' possible effects on Saturday's opener at Nippert Stadium against D.C. United, FC Cincinnati officials indicated they were awaiting further details from DeWine's office.

The statement came in response to a news conference staged by DeWine earlier Wednesday in which he stated more aggressive action would be taken to combat the spread of novel coronavirus.

A fourth novel coronavirus case in Ohio was confirmed Wednesday. It was classified as community-spread, as compared to three earlier cases in people who had traveled recently to areas where the virus was present.

"We appreciate Governor DeWine's strong leadership to protect Ohio’s public health. We take the threat of COVID-19 seriously," FC Cincinnati officials said in the statement. "Based on Governor DeWine’s press conference today, we are working with Major League Soccer on potential scenarios, pending the announcement of the Governor’s executive order. Until that time, we await the expected clarity and guidance the order will bring everyone.”

At his Thursday evening news conference, Berding praised DeWine's leadership at the state level for his response to the novel coronavirus situation.

"Otherwise, we live in unprecedented times here," Berding said. "There's no way that anyone could plan for this and I'm proud of the fact that, with our staff here at FC Cincinnati and our ownership group, our whole preparation for this was to be true to our values as a club and do what's right for the community, and that's why we sent the statement out last night to strongly support Governor DeWine and his aggressive leadership here to limit mass gatherings in order to best contain the spread of this virus through community transmission, community spread.