Events with 1,000 or more attendees have been banned in San Francisco for two weeks in an attempt to reduce the spread of coronavirus, Mayor London Breed announced Wednesday.
The decree took effect immediately, Breed said, and will affect Golden State Warriors home games and concerts at the Chase Center.
The Warriors had come under mounting pressure to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, either by playing games in an empty arena or relocating to another city that is not experiencing a significant number of COVID-19 cases.
Warriors President Rick Welts was scheduled to meet Breed on Wednesday.
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, 2020Officials have also decided to postpone the celebration of Golden Gate Park's 150th anniversary, which had been planned for April 4.
Banning large events shows that the city is expanding the measures to slow the coronavirus outbreak. The city had previously canceled all "non-essential" events at city property.
Santa Clara County, which has faced the most coronavirus cases in the Bay Area, previously enacted a similar ban on large gatherings.
