San Francisco bans large events due to coronavirus; Warriors will play without fans

An exterior view of the Chase Center before the Golden State Warriors game against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 05, 2019 in San Francisco, California. An exterior view of the Chase Center before the Golden State Warriors game against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 05, 2019 in San Francisco, California. Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close San Francisco bans large events due to coronavirus; Warriors will play without fans 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

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San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a ban on all events larger than 1,000 people across the city Wednesday on Twitter. The ban will apply to all events at Chase Center, including Golden State Warriors games, the Chronicle reported.

As a result of the ban on large gatherings, Thursday's game against the Brooklyn Nets will be played without fans, the Warriors confirmed in a statement. All paying fans will receive refunds. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Wednesday morning the Warriors would play their home games in an empty arena for the foreseeable future.

"San Francisco will officially ban large events over 1000 people, including Warriors games. Effective tomorrow, the ban will last at least 2 weeks," San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney tweeted shortly after the Chronicle's report. "Other counties and states have taken similar steps. Public health must be first priority."

The potential ban mirrors the steps taken by Santa Clara County on Monday evening, when the county announced an identical ban on gatherings of 1,000 people until the end of March. Santa Clara's ban makes such gatherings a crime, enforceable by the sheriff's office.

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

Other sporting events dealt with the consequences of San Francisco's ban on Wednesday. The Giants-A's exhibition game, scheduled to be played on March 24 at Oracle Park, will be canceled, the Giants announced on Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday evening, Mission Local's Joe Eskenazi reported that "multiple San Francisco officials" were lobbying the Warriors to take preemptive action against the coronavirus.

“I have personally spoken to the head of the Warriors organization, Rick Welts,” Supervisor Aaron Peskin told Mission Local. “I have expressed my desire that they do this voluntarily before, in the days ahead, we do it as an emergency public health order. It’s not a matter of ‘if.’ It’s a matter of ‘when.’ I hope they come to that conclusion before we make them come to that conclusion.”

This is a breaking story. Further information will be added as it becomes available.

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