https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2020/03/09/coronavirus-santa-clara-county-mass-gatherings-ban-san-jose-sharks/5008010002/Santa Clara County's ban on mass gatherings due to coronavirus will impact sporting eventsJace Evans - USA TODAY
Coronavirus concerns in Santa Clara County, California, has prompted the county's Public Health Department to cancel mass gatherings of more than 1,000 people, a move that is slated to have a significant impact on the sports world.
The edict, issued by the county's Public Health Officer on Monday night, comes in the wake of the first death recorded in Santa Clara County from COVID-19. The mass-gatherings ban goes into effect at 12 a.m. PT Wednesday and will last at least three weeks.
The move will directly impact events held at San Jose's SAP Center — home of the NHL's Sharks and AHL's Barracuda — as well as at Earthquakes Stadium — home of Major League Soccer's San Jose Earthquakes — and potentially sporting events at Stanford University in Palo Alto.
My main point in posting this is that Santa Clara County has banned large gathering. The point being to reduce the risk of a mass exposure by an infected attendee. So, yeah, sporting events will be affected, concerts, conventions, all shut down. It even affects medium-sized running events, such as the Shamrock Run this coming Saturday, in which my daughter and I were going to do the 10K distance. And the Silicon Valley Half (April 5) is being postponed, in which I was planning to do the 10K distance.
