by Jason Hopkins
From Disney World to the Supreme Court, institutions across the country are being affected by the rampant spread of coronavirus.
Institutions across the United States are mounting serious responses to the threat of COVID-19, a flu-like illness that has so far killed more than 5,000 people across the world. Below are some of the major events that are being put on pause, and places either shutting down or restricting access from the public.
SPORTS
The NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS have all put games on hold in light of the epidemic.
The NBA announced Wednesday that it was ending its season, following a Utah Jazz player testing positive for coronavirus. One day later, the NHL said it would be pausing the 2019-2020 season. Major League Soccer announced it would be suspending activities for 30 days.
While the regular MLB season wasn’t due to start until March 26, baseball officials announced they would be pushing the beginning of the season back by about two weeks.
National Attractions
Disney Parks announced in a statement that Disneyland and Disney California Adventure would be closed from the public from March 14 until the end of the month. Soon after, the Walt Disney Company announced that Disney World would be closed from March 15 until the end of the month.
The Universal theme parks in Orlando, Florida, and in Los Angeles, California, announced they are shutting down their doors. The Universal Orlando Resort closure, which will become effective on Sunday, could also last until the last day of March.
Concerts and Festivals
Coachella and Stagecoach, two popular music festivals that draw hundreds of thousands in attendance, have been postponed for six months. Organizers of the events announced the rescheduling in an Instagram post Wednesday.
Coachella is due to take place from Oct. 9 to 11, and Oct. 16 to 18 as of publication time. Stagecoach is set to take place from October 23 to 25.
Originally scheduled to take place from March 20 to 22, Miami’s Ultra Music Festival has been called off for 2020.
Washington, D.C.
The White House, Congress and the Supreme Court buildings are closed off to the public until at least April 1. The Congressional Sergeants at Arms and White House staffers announced the decisions Thursday. While these buildings are not completely being closed down, public tours for the rest of March have been put on pause.
“We are taking this temporary action out of concern for the health and safety of Congressional employees and the public,” the Senate and House sergeants at arms said in a joint statement. “We appreciate the understanding of those with planned visits interrupted by this necessary, but prudent, decision.”
The Weinermobile
The beloved Weinermobile has also decided to cancel events for the foreseeable future. In a public statement issued Thursday, the Weinermobile’s official Twitter page cited coronavirus concerns for the decision.
“We’ve made the difficult decision to cancel currently scheduled Wienermobile events for the near future. The health & safety of our fans, the Hotdoggers & the public is top priority. We look forward to getting back on the hot dog highway as soon as we can. Stay safe everyone,” the statement read.
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Jason Hopkins is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
