LA Mayor says ban on large-scale events could last until 2021
- It could be a while before cities like Los Angeles or New York City allow for large scale gatherings like concerts or sports events.
- LA Mayor Eric Garcetti said large-scale events might not be approved until 2021, according to several news outlets.
- A spokesperson for his office said there isn't a timeline to when things can open back up again, and Garcetti's comments were made in reference to studies on safely reopening the economy.
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Large events like concerts and sports gathering could be suspended until 2021 in Los Angeles due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Los Angeles Times reported.
According to the Times, the topic was brought up in an internal Los Angeles Fire Department email and Mayor Eric Garcetti at a weekly briefing on Monday.
A spokesperson for Garcetti's office told Business Insider that there wasn't a ban, and the Mayor was speaking in reference to studies on how to reopen the city's economy safely.
"It seems very unlikely that people would gather in any sort of capacity this year," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said there is no timeline for how long social distancing measures will be in place yet. So far, Los Angeles has a shelter in place order in place until May 15.
"I think we all have never wanted science to work so quickly," Garcetti told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "But until there's either a vaccine, some sort of pharmaceutical intervention, or herd immunity, the science is the science. And public health officials have made very clear we have miles and miles to walk before we can be back in those environments."
According to the Times, the email from LAFD showed that Garcetti said: "large gatherings such as concerts and sporting events may not be approved in the city for at least 1 year."
The email summarized information on a meeting between Garcetti and top officials, including Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas.
A Fire Department spokesman told the Times that Terrazas was "paraphrasing information he received from the mayor regarding possible scenarios for reopening timelines across a range of events."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom also announced that large gathering in the state would be "unlikely" throughout at least the summer, KPIX5 reported.
In New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also said it's unlikely large-scale gatherings would resume anytime soon.
"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. 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 sequence," de Blasio said, according to CNN. "And 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."
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