Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles on April 15 said on CNN and Billboard that live events like sports games and concerts might not resume until 2021 as the United States is doing its best to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's difficult to imagine us getting together in the thousands anytime soon, so I think we should be prepared for that this year," Garcetti told CNN anchor and The Situation Room host Wolf Blitzer.
Same Sentiments
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio shares the same sentiments as Garcetti. De Blasio called mass gatherings like live events as "one of the last things that we bring back online."
"I've got to see in my city real steady progress, even to start to think about relaxing some of those social distancing standards even a little bit," according to De Blasio.
"I want to get people back to work, of course. I want to get kids back to school. But I think it will take months to go through that whole sequenc. The last thing I want to do is gather 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 people in one place, that's like the exact opposite of social distancing," he added.
De Blasio and Garcetti's statements show a picture of how long social distancing may need to take effect before the order is lifted. The two cities are famous for having large live events, and the two also have the most extensive media market in the country.
Public health experts agree that the way to control the pandemic, apart from strict social distancing measures, is that states and local communities must build the capacity for testing and contact tracing. The process of identifying new coronavirus cases, tracking down, and quarantining anyone who could have been infected by new cases would be a crucial point for anyone to return to normal life.
One health expert said that the live events like concerts could not safely resume until the autumn season of 2021. Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel said that the states could not reopen quickly as the virus cases can rise at the worst level possible.
Los Angeles has 10,517 cases with 405 deaths and no recoveries as of this writing, according to Johns Hopkins University. New York has the highest case with 213,779 cases, 11,586 deaths, and 17,089 recoveries as of this writing, according to Google.
Concert Schedules Affected
As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, one of the most affected is concerts. Billboard reported many concert cancellations since January. Some of the live events that were canceled were from pop stars like Dua Lipa and Camila Cabello, country musicians like Garth Brooks, and groups like Pearl Jam, Metallica, and BTS.
Subsequently, some artists are now resorting to live-performances online from their homes. Willie Nelson did his yearly concert, Farm Aid, from his home instead. David Guetta, meanwhile, will do live performance from his home on Saturday, April 18, according to Rolling Stone.
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