A Thursday night basketball game between the Golden State Warriors and the Brooklyn Nets will be played without fans in the stadium due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.
The Golden State Warriors tweeted that the decision was made after consulting with the city and county of San Francisco.
The game was scheduled to be held at the Chase Center in San Fransisco.
“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,” the team’s account tweeted. “Fans with tickets to this game will receive a refund in the amount paid.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and a member of the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force, told Congress Wednesday any event with large crowds is a risk of spreading the virus.
“We would recommend there not be large crowds. If that means not having any people in the audience when the NBA plays, so be it,” Fauci said. “As a public health official anything that has large crowds is something that would give risk to a spread.”
The Warriors’ announcement comes the same day as San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) announced a moratorium on public events with more 1,000 people as part of an effort to slow the coronavirus outbreak.
The ban will be in effect for two weeks and may be reauthorized by the city’s health officer if necessary, the mayor’s office said.
“We know that this order is disruptive, but it is an important step to support public health,” Breed said in a statement. “We’re following the recommendations of public health officials to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community.”
There are 14 confirmed cases of coronavirus in San Francisco, according to the health department’s most recent update.
In California, there are 157 positive cases, not including passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship docked in Oakland, according to state health officials’ Tuesday update.
Jessie Hellmann contributed.