Hours after the governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, ordered a ban on gatherings of more than 250 people in the Seattle area in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus, businesses and residents alike were already beginning to feel the effects.
From a Patti Smith concert in downtown Seattle to a Seattle Sounders soccer game, by Wednesday evening virtually all manner of large events in the region had been canceled or postponed, causing something of a shift in the area’s social and cultural landscape.
The ban is expected to stay in place for the rest of March, but it has no official end date. It applies to three counties in western Washington, which have been the hardest hit by the outbreak.
On Wednesday, Washington state health officials confirmed 366 cases of coronavirus across 12 counties, including 29 deaths.
The Pacific Northwest Ballet announced it had canceled all performances for the next two weeks in response to the governor’s ban.
Gary Tucker, director of communications, said the impact on the organization would be “staggering” and include a financial loss of about $1.1m for the month of March. While the dancers would continue to be paid, he said they were devastated not to be able to perform.
“It’s devastating but completely an understandable mandate for the state to make this call,” Tucker said. “This is going to impact everybody, but some people are dying.”
The 5th Avenue Theatre in downtown Seattle also announced it had canceled all March performances of Sister Act, a show that was set to start previews on Saturday.
Calling the production “one of our most anticipated shows of the season,” managing director Bernie Griffin said they would lose at least $1m from ticket sales. She said this ban is a concern for 5th Avenue and the rest of the arts sector, and suggested patrons support the community by not asking for a ticket refund.
“These are going to be very difficult, trying times and the goodwill of our community is the only thing that’s going to sustain this sector,” she said.
The World Health Organization is recommending that people take simple precautions to reduce exposure to and transmission of the coronavirus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine.
The UN agency advises people to:
- Frequently wash their hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or warm water and soap
- Cover their mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue when sneezing or coughing
- Avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever or cough
- Seek early medical help if they have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, and share their travel history with healthcare providers
- Avoid direct, unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals when visiting live markets in affected areas
- Avoid eating raw or undercooked animal products and exercise care when handling raw meat, milk or animal organs to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods.
Despite a surge in sales of face masks in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak, experts are divided over whether they can prevent transmission and infection. There is some evidence to suggest that masks can help prevent hand-to-mouth transmissions, given the large number of times people touch their faces. The consensus appears to be that wearing a mask can limit – but not eliminate – the risks, provided it is used correctly.
Smaller local theaters have also had to rework their performance season, including the As If Theatre Company, which is located near Life Care Center, a nursing home that has seen 13 people associated with the center diagnosed with coronavirus and die.
Cindy Giese French, the theatre’s artistic director, said they pushed their performance of The Cake to October after weighing the risk and recognizing that they didn’t want to be responsible for anyone getting sick or even dying.
Performing arts organizations are not the only groups that have felt the impacts of this ban. Tacoma Defiance, a local soccer team, announced it would play its Wednesday match behind closed doors, while the football team, Seattle Dragons, said it would not be letting in fans to its game this weekend.
Schools in the area have also started canceling class or moved lessons online. Seattle Public Schools, the largest K-12 school system in the state, announced on Wednesday that it would close all of its 104 schools for two weeks beginning Thursday.
Also starting on Thursday, Far Away Entertainment, which operates nine movie theaters in western Washington, announced it would only be selling 50% of available tickets for each screening.
Although none of their theaters have the capacity for 250 people, Jeff Brein, managing partner, said that the cap will allow people to keep some distance from one another.
“It gives them the freedom to kind of social distance themselves to a point where they’re comfortable,” he said.
The theaters also have hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes available for visitors, and have been continuing to encourage their employees to wash their hands often. Brein said they haven’t seen any noticeable change in movie attendance.
Dr Jeff Duchin, health officer for public health, Seattle and King county, said in a statement on Wednesday that he was also ordering the prohibition of gatherings of fewer than 250 people unless safety measures are in place, including screening employees for coronavirus symptoms and following the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for cleaning.
Aaron Allshouse, 47, was heading in to see the movie Seberg at a theater in Seattle on Wednesday afternoon. He said he often see’s a movie every day, and wasn’t planning on changing that now that the governor has banned large events.
“I just think people should live their lives,” he said.
Kara Burfeind, who owns The SweetSide, a bakeshop in Seattle, said next week’s orders are already down by 75% compared with three weeks ago, because fewer people are coming in for tastings and corporate and social events have been canceled.
She said the bakeshop has eight employees, and last week there was about 240 hours of work for them. But next week, she will need to find a way to split 30 to 50 hours of work between them.
“It is such a trying time,” she said. “We just want to be able to do the right thing. And I think that every business owner is scrambling to figure out what the definition of the right thing is.”
