SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – San Francisco city officials announced Wednesday that the city will officially ban all large events with over 1,000 people.

The ban is effective immediately and includes all Golden State Warriors games, officials said.

City officials said the ban will last “at least 2 weeks.”

“This is necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19, and builds on our previous public health recommendations,” Mayor London Breed tweeted.

This morning we announced that the Health Officer of San Francisco is issuing an order prohibiting all large group events of 1,000 or more persons, effective immediately.



This is necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19, and builds on our previous public health recommendations. — London Breed (@LondonBreed) March 11, 2020

The mayor addressed the media flanked by several city officials, including the Public Health Director to discuss the outright ban of large scale events of 1,000 people which will be in effect until March 25.

The public health order could be extended if necessary.

While other major city-owned venues canceled events after it was recommended last week, not all private venues followed suit.

The Chase Center hosted a Warriors game Tuesday night.

The mayor sat down with the Warriors president in advance of announcing the moratorium Wednesday.

While the ban is effective immediately, venues still have to be contacted.

The Curran Theater was sold out of its matinee showing of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child but the theater’s website states that they had already reduced its capacity to 1,000 and is contacting patrons to voluntarily exchange tickets for any performance that exceeds that capacity.

The threat of COVID-19 wasn’t deterring the fans from showing up on Wednesday.

Shortly after the announcement on Wednesday, the San Francisco Giants announced they will not be playing the upcoming March 24 exhibition game against the Oakland A’s at Oracle Park as a result of the ban.

While events like these are being banned because they are considered non-essential, the superintendent of the city’s public schools says that is not the case for children’s education.

They are planning to keep all 132 campuses open for now.

City officials stressed that this is an evolving situation and parents should have a plan in place in case their school has to shut down. Students and staff are also advised to stay home if they are sick.

Santa Clara County enacted a similar ban on Monday.

There are nearly 100 coronavirus cases confirmed around the Bay Area. There are 14 cases in San Francisco. Santa Clara County is reporting the most cases at 48.

The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

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