More and more cities are taking extra precautions due to the spread of the coronavirus and Chicago is joining the list.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced that Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade has been canceled and further actions could affect the Chicago sports world.
Lightfoot addressed the latest on the coronavirus at a press conference on Wednesday. The topic of how it will affect Chicago sports teams came up.
The Bulls and Blackhawks are in season and the only changes, so far, have been to restrict locker room access to media. MLB and MLS also jointly announced this policy with the NBA and the NHL on Monday.
As far as baseball is concerned, the latest report is that the league prefers to relocate games as opposed to canceling them.
Outbreaks in Seattle and San Jose have caused local authorities to ban large gatherings, which includes sporting events. The Seattle Mariners will have to play their first two series out of Seattle. They are scheduled to play the White Sox April 6-8, but in Chicago.
San Francisco announced a ban of more than 1,000 people on Wednesday, which affects Thursday's Golden State Warriors home game. This would be the first sporting event directly effected.
As this story evolves it’s unclear how it will affect the Chicago teams, but for now, Mayor Lightfoot and Chicago authorities are discussing it with the teams.