Health

CDC Recommends No Gatherings Of Over 50 People As Coronavirus Fears Mount

KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Shelby Talcott Senior White House Correspondent
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The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended Sunday that there be no events held in the U.S. with 50 or more people for the next eight weeks because of the novel coronavirus.

The virus has continued to spread both around the world and within America. States around the country have independently issued varying restrictions and closures, while President Donald Trump declared a national emergency Friday. (RELATED: Here’s A List Of How Every Country In The World Is Responding To Coronavirus)

“Therefore, CDC, in accordance with its guidance for large events and mass gatherings, recommends that for the next 8 weeks, organizers (whether groups or individuals) cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States,” CDC wrote Sunday.

The recommendation does not apply to schools or the day-to-day operation of businesses, the CDC added. Examples of group events that the CDC recommends be postponed “include conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings, and other types of assemblies.”

“This recommendation is made in an attempt to reduce introduction of the virus into new communities and to slow the spread of infection in communities already affected by the virus,” according to the CDC.

The CDC’s announcement could impact the start of numerous sports leagues and other events that have already been pushed back because of the novel coronavirus. One possibility, certain sports leagues like the NBA noted, is to beginning playing again without fans present.

At least 3,453 people in 49 states, Washington, D.C. and two U.S. territories have tested positive for the virus as of Sunday evening, the New York Times reported. At least 62 people in America have died because of the novel coronavirus.