RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has strongly discouraged large meetings and gatherings statewide to limit the magnitude of the coronavirus outbreak. Cooper and health officials recommended that starting Friday all meetings of more than 100 people be postponed, canceled or modified. Telecommuting is also being encouraged for employees statewide.
The governor already declared a state emergency earlier this week and had encouraged older or medically fragile adults to avoid large gatherings. Cooper says his more restrictive guidance will help blunt the spread of the virus and save lives.
The number of North Carolina residents testing positive for COVID-19 reached 15 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association has suspended all athletics events starting Friday night and running through April 6 amid concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus that has become a global pandemic.
The NCHSAA announced the decision Thursday. It included the indefinite postponement of the men’s and women’s prep basketball state championship games set for Saturday in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. The suspension of athletics includes workouts, practices and games. The NCHSAA says its board of directors “will assess this situation regularly over the next few weeks.”
The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments have also been cancelled in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The league made the unprecedented move Thursday after announcing Wednesday that the events would be closed to the public. All of the major Division I men’s conference tournaments were called off in a flurry of Thursday cancellations. The spectacle known as March Madness, which was scheduled to begin next week, had been held every year since 1939 for men’s college teams and 1982 for women’s teams.
Major League Baseball, which was set to open its season March 26,will delay its season and has suspended spring training games. The sport will delay the start of the season by at least two weeks and has suspended spring training games, according to a news release. The decision follows action from the NBA, which on Wednesday suspended its season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the coronavirus, and the NHL, which suspended its season indefinitely Thursday.