Following Wednesday night’s Presidential address concerning the COVID-19 global pandemic, which resulted in Pres. Trump announced a 30-day ban on all travel from Europe to the United States, beginning on Friday, the announcements of event cancelations, sporting season suspension, and festival postponements have come fast and heavy.
Following the lead set by European sporting agencies, the NHL announced the suspension of the remainder of the season today, putting the remaining games on hiatus.
“In light of ongoing developments resulting from the coronavirus, and after consulting with medical experts and convening a conference call of the Board of Governors, the National Hockey League is announcing today that it will pause the 2019-20 season beginning with tonight’s games,” announced NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
The NBA announced the suspension of the remainder of its season as well, though this followed Wednesday night’s games after a player on the Utah Jazz tested positive for the virus.
Major League Soccer in North America has suspended its season for 30 days.
Closer to home, the MLB‘s Seattle Mariners will not be able to play home games in March following Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s ban on gatherings of more than 250 people in three counties for the month.
The International Cannabis Business Conference, that was set to take place today in Barcelona, Spain, announced its cancelation late last night, following the President’s address, siting travel restrictions.
“We deeply regret to inform you that ICBC Barcelona is canceled due to the U.S./Europe travel ban that was implemented a few hours ago by the United States government,” said Alex Rogers, CEO of ICBC, in a statement. “Due to this unfortunate occurrence, many of our exhibitors and attendees are currently scrambling for flights back to the U.S. and other respective travel destinations. The health and safety of our patrons and their families are of the utmost importance. More information will be forthcoming. We are very sorry for this inconvenience.”
These newest cancelations join the near-exponentially growing list of events, festivals, and conferences postponing and canceling as the world reacts to the spread of coronavirus.
The annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sister event the Stagecoach Country Music Festival, both taking place in the desert of Indio, CA have been postponed. Coachella moved its dates from April 10-12 and April 17-19 to October 9-11 and October 16-18, and Stagecoach moved from April 24-26 to October 23-25
Shows across numerous broadcast networks have announced that they will begin tapings without audiences next week, such CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, and Live With Kelly And Ryan.
SXSW, the film, music and tech festival that runs March 13-22 in Austin, has been cancelled due to COVID-19.
E3, the annual computer and video game conference, cancelled its 2020 edition set for June 11 in Los Angeles because of COVID-19 .
MGM, Eon and Universal postponed the global release dates of their James Bond movie No Time to Die from April 2 in the UK and internationally and its April 10 U.S. Easter weekend day-and-date release to November 25.
As no official ban on gatherings have gone into effect in British Columbia or Canada at this time, events such as 420 Vancouver, which last year brought together over 150,000 people, are still scheduled to continue.
Further details will follow on this developing story.
Also, wash your hands, and don’t touch your face.