Gov. Brown — Cancel All Large Crowd Events Through September

Thursday, Oregon Governor Kate Brown dealt what could be a gigantic blow to that state's economy, as well as other aspects when she announced all large crowd events would need to be cancelled or moved, through the end of September.

Oregonlive.com reports Gov. Brown said until there is a vaccine or suitable treatment program for COVID-19, any and all large crowd events, from fairs to concerts, from sports to conventions etc. would need to be cancelled through the end of that month. or moved to a later date.

Brown said gatherings of up to 25 will be allowed during the first phase of the state's re-opening starting May 15, but literally hundreds of upcoming events are now in jeopardy.

The Oregon State Fair and other major events have cancelled for 2020, although Brown said some elements of the fair could still take place,saying,“Some aspects of the fair could continue with physical distancing, face coverings and limiting the number of people."

Besides such events as concerts, fairs, conventions and other revenue and income-generating events, this will have a massive ripple effect on the economy.  Thousands of businesses derive income as a result of events, and now they're not happening.

Oregon health officials said some sports such as tennis and golf could probably occur, not realizing these are SPRING sports in high schools. Football, volleyball, soccer and other sports have a higher degree of physical contact and most of them are played in the fall. This could scuttle easily half of high school seasons for these events.

It will also jeopardize collegiate sports as well.  Oregon has three home games in Eugene in September, including a huge date with Ohio State. Oregon State also has games. This could also potentially affect the five NCAA Division III schools in Oregon, Linfield, Lewis and Clark, Willamette, George Fox University, and Pacific University.

Conceivably, these games could be moved to the opponent's fields if feasible, especially if the other teams are in a state that hasn't been as restrictive or instituted a crippling shutdown.

Washington State is supposed to play Portland State in Oregon in September. This will also affect the Northwest "A" Baseball league, with the Salem-Keizer Volcanos, Hillsboro Hops, and Eugene Emeralds --all major league farm club teams.

It is hoped conditions will continue to improve enough to allow this ban to be dropped or at least modified.

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