Coronavirus Live Updates: U.S. Outbreak Spreads as East Coast Sees Its First Deaths – The New York Times

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With the coronavirus spreading in the United States, the N.B.A. reminded its teams on Friday about the protocol for postponing or canceling games, and for playing without fans in attendance. The basketball league has not indicated that it plans to pursue any of those options.

According to a memo sent to teams on Friday, the league’s protocol requires a series of actions before such changes, including consultation with the affected teams and written notice from a top league official. Separately, the N.B.A. and its players’ union recently advised against high-fives and handshakes in favor of fist bumps, to limit the spread of germs.

The N.B.A. could be particularly affected by the epidemic in states that have declared a state of emergency, such as California. The mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, has called for sporting events to be canceled. San Francisco is the home of the Chase Center, where the N.B.A’.s Golden State Warriors play. On Friday, the Warriors released a statement that listed new sanitizing measures the team had implemented.

As for games without fans, the league has advised teams to prepare contingency plans that would include deciding which staff members would need to attend. Teams were also told to prepare for the possibility of implementing temperature checks for anyone who would be considered essential for such a game, including players and referees.

The league rarely postpones games and almost never cancels them. This season has been an exception because of the death of Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26. Mr. Bryant, who retired in 2016, spent 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, who were scheduled to play a game two days after his death. That game, against the Los Angeles Clippers, was postponed until April, causing three other games to be rescheduled.

The N.B.A. also announced on Tuesday that because of the coronavirus, it would postpone the first season of its Basketball Africa League, a professional league of 12 teams that had been set to debut in Senegal on March 13.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/world/coronavirus-news.html

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