San Francisco will officially ban events over 1,000 people, including Warriors games, as decided by Mayor London Breed and city health officials, to help against the spread of coronavirus. Effective Wednesday, the ban will last at least two weeks.
"Public health must be first priority," city supervisor Matt Haney said in a tweet.
This will immediately affect the Warriors, who have a game scheduled against the Brooklyn Nets at Mission Bay's Chase Center on Thursday. In accordance with San Francisco's order, the Warriors will play Thursday's game at Chase Center without fans _ essential personnel only _ to adhere to the 1,000-person limit.
The Warriors' next home game after Thursday isn't until March 25 against the Atlanta Hawks. In all, the Warriors are scheduled to play seven more home games this season, all of which could be impacted by the ban.
Despite city officials' urges for them to cancel games to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the Warriors played Tuesday night's game against the Clippers as planned. There were noticeably fewer fans at the arena, which could be the last game played at Chase Center with fans for a while.
The Warriors have said they will refund all tickets to Thursday night's game.
One of the nation's top health officials told the U.S. House Oversight Committee Wednesday that leagues should keep fans out of all arenas while coronavirus continues to spread across the United States.
"We would recommend that there not be large crowds," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said. "If that means not having any people in the audience as the NBA plays, so be it."
The NBA is hosting a conference call Wednesday with team owners to discuss contingency plans, including such a possibility. Other options on the table may include moving games to cities with less outbreak or suspending games altogether.
