Oregon stadiums will be without fans until at least October, Gov. Kate Brown announced Thursday.
Brown held a press conference to announce the update, The Hill reports.
“There is some difficult news to share,” Brown said at her news briefing. “Large gatherings, including live sporting events with audiences, concerts, festivals and conventions will not be able to return until we have a reliable treatment or prevention like a vaccine.”
She said the Oregon Health Authority is suggesting that any large gathering scheduled through at least September should be canceled or modified.
“I know this is really, really hard,” she said. "I will miss visiting our fairs and festivals this year.”
Teams impacted include Portland's professional sports franchises, the NBA's Trailblazers and MLS's Timbers as well as collegiate fall sports.
The University of Oregon is scheduled to play its home opener against North Dakota State on Sept. 5.
“We will continue to work with state and local officials, public health experts, and campus leadership in navigating all of the unprecedented issues surrounding COVID-19 and when our student-athletes will be able to return to competition,” Oregon Athletics said in a statement after Brown's announcement. “The health and safety of our student-athletes and community will continue to be our top priority.”
Oregon's epidemiologist Dean Sidelinger shared similar news on the return of sports.
“Non-contact sports like golf and tennis, where people can maintain a distance, are probably some of the things we will see coming back first,” he said. “As we approach football season, we can see how the disease is behaving in our community and what kinds of steps can be taken around the teams themselves, coaches and others around the team, to see if they can safely start but as you heard from the Governor’s remarks, large gatherings will likely not be happening through the end of September.”
He added that when sports return, they will likely occur without fans.
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