Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday the city may not allow large gatherings like awards shows, concerts and sporting events to resume before 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s difficult to imagine us getting together in the thousands anytime soon, so I think we should be prepared for that this year,” Garcetti told Wolf Blitzer on CNN’s The Situation Room.
The mayor added, “Public health officials have been very clear: We’ve got many miles to walk before we’re going to be back in those environments.”
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That’s bad news for concerts and awards shows, like the BET Awards, which are scheduled to take place on Sunday June 28, 2020, and still haven’t been moved.
Meanwhile, the Emmy Awards are set for Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020. Last month, the Television Academy announced changes to eligibility and voting deadlines for the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards. But for now, the show is still planned. “There are no current plans to cancel or delay the September 20 Emmy telecast or the September 12 and 13 Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies,” the TV Academy said.
As for sporting events and concerts, Garcetti said some may be able to resume, but with restrictions.
“I can hope we can perhaps watch sporting events without audiences on TV … listen to concerts as we’ve been doing,” he stated.
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As of Wednesday, Los Angeles County — which includes the city of L.A., Long Beach and Pasadena — reported 10,496 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 402 deaths, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health website.
New York City, which has seen a staggering number of deaths, won’t be allowing large gatherings either in the near future.
“I’ve got to see in my city, real, steady progress, even to start to think about relaxing some of those social distancing standards even a little bit,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN Wednesday. “I want to get people back to work, of course. I want to get kids back to school. But I think it will take months to go through that whole sequence.”
He added, “The last thing I want to do is gather 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 people in one place. That’s like the exact opposite of social distancing.”
The death toll in NYC is nearing 11,000, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday. The paper quoted the local health department, which placed the number of “confirmed” deaths at 6,840 and “probable” COVID-related fatalities at 4,059, a total of 10,899.
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