What does California's COVID-19 emergency mean for entertainment venues?

As the spread of the coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, continues across the country, California's Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state emergency on March 4, 2020. The declaration specified measures that are to be taken to protect public health, prevent price gouging, offer more assistance to local governments, and allow health care workers to come from outside the state.

Photo © Frank J. Maccioli

The official proclamation may be seen here: Proclamation of a State of Emergency

Additionally, the California Department of Public Health (CPDH) has developed a website for the latest COVID-19 updates and information.

Included on that website are a series of Guidance Documents, including among others, recommendations for how entertainment venues should address the developing pandemic to minimize the health risks to their performers, employees, and patrons. Those recommendations may be found here:

CDPH Guidance for the Prevention of COVID-19 TransmissionIn Entertainment Venues, March 13, 2020

Many of California Environmental News' friends and supporters are members of the entertainment industry - musicians, actors, producers, venue owners. Most, if not all of them, have been impacted by this pandemic and are closely following the above procedures, some of which are shown below:

• Keep attendance under 250 persons per individual theater and ensure that social distancing of six feet per person for non-family members is maintained and make clear that family members can sit together, stand in line together etc. 
• Suspend reserved seating to allow patrons to self-separate 
• Reduce capacity to 50-60% per showing 
• Increase frequency of cleaning and sanitizing per CDC Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection guidance on high contact areas/hard surfaces including snack counters, door handles/hinges, etc. 
• Increase cleaning and sanitizing of restrooms 
• Sanitize seats and tray tables between showings 
• Train employees on best hygiene practices including washing their hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds 
• Increased spacing of show times to allow for more thorough cleaning of individual theaters 
• Have ushers monitor social distancing practices in theaters and encourage additional distance between guests as appropriate 
• Limiting the number of people in lines 
• Additional opportunities throughout the theater for persons to reduce the spread of the virus through hand washing or sanitizing stations 
• Eliminate events/marketing that target individuals that CDPH has identified as being at higher risk for COVID-19.

As a prudent measure for your own protection, be sure to contact any venue you may be attending to ensure that they are following the recommended procedures and to determine what other measures they may be doing to protect your health, the health of their employees, and the general public.

Be safe out there! We are all in this together!

World Health Organization declares coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

The World Health Organization (WHO) today declared that the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a pandemic.

Photo Credit: Screenshot, Dr. Tedros' March 11, 2020 News Conference/Twitter feed (Fair use)

You may view the announcement at the following link:

WHO declares Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

From the Twitter feed of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director of WHO:

"@WHO is deeply concerned by the alarming levels of the #coronavirus spread, severity & inaction, & expects to see the number of cases, deaths & affected countries climb even higher. Therefore, we made the assessment that #COVID19 can be characterized as a pandemic."

Just what is a "pandemic?" In simple terms, a pandemic results when an infectious disease spreads internationally or worldwide, as opposed to an epidemic, which may be restricted to localized areas. (Ref.: Pandemic definition )
To date, the spread of coronavirus and the disease it causes (COVID-19) since its discovery in December of 2019 has resulted in over 125,000 known cases, over 4,600 known deaths, and over 67,000 known recoveries. As of March 11, 2020 at 19:41 GMT, there have been 1109 confirmed cases and 31 deaths due to coronavirus COVID-19 in the United States.  (Ref.: Coronavirus Update)
UPDATE: According to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), as of March 10, 2020, there have been 157 confirmed cases and 2 deaths from COVID-19 in California. Those numbers do not include passengers on the Grand Princess cruise ship currently docked in Oakland, CA.

Questions and answers about the coronavirus from the World Health Organization

People understandably have been hearing lots of conflicting reports about the spread and impacts of the coronavirus outbreak and the disease it causes, COVID-19. Lots of people dismiss it as being far less dangerous than the flu and others compare it to the zombie apocalypse.

Photo Credit: WHO/Getty Images (fair use)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has compiled a list of questions and answers that address most if not all of the questions you may have. Of note is that although the symptoms of COVID-19 are generally considered to be mild, 1 in 5 of those afflicted with the disease require hospitalization. That's 20 percent for those of us who may be mathematically challenged.

Additionally, according to WHO, there is no evidence that current medicine exists that can cure or prevent the disease.

Considering that the disease is still spreading across the world with no real end in sight, the concern about COVID-19 is, and please pardon this pun which may be in bad taste, "nothing to sniff at."

BNP Paribas Tennis Open in Indian Wells, CA CANCELLED due to coronavirus

The 2020 BNP Paribas Tennis Open has just been cancelled due to concerns related to the coronavirus, COVID-19. The Mens and Womens professional tournament is considered by many to be the fifth major tennis tournament in the world, next to the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open.

Photo Credit: BNP Paribas Tennis Tournament website

Tournament officials just announced the cancellation via a statement on the tournament website. The reason given was that the Riverside County Public Health Department has declared a public health emergency for the Coachella Valley after a confirming a local case of the COVID-19 virus.

“There is too great a risk, at this time, to the public health of the Riverside County area in holding a large gathering of this size,” said Dr. David Agus, Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California. “It is not in the public interest of fans, players and neighboring areas for this tournament to proceed. We all have to join together to protect the community from the coronavirus outbreak.”

At the time of this writing, the Riverside County Public Health Department had not yet posted any information about the emergency on its website. However, the website did note that a Riverside County resident who was a passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship contracted the disease, but, was being quarantined in Northern California. Additionally, the County has activated a special Department Operations Center (DOC) in response to its efforts to ramp up its response to the virus.

(UPDATE, 3/9/20: The Riverside County Public Health Department website has just published the Emergency Declaration, dated March 8, 2020. You may see it at this link: Local Health Emergency )

“We appreciate the proactive stance tournament organizers are taking to ensure public health and safety,” said Martin Massiello, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Eisenhower Health.

“We are very disappointed that the tournament will not take place, but the health and safety of the local community, fans, players, volunteers, sponsors, employees, vendors, and everyone involved with the event is of paramount importance,” said Tournament Director Tommy Haas. “We are prepared to hold the tournament on another date and will explore options.”

Those who have purchased tickets may request refunds on the tournament website.