Local Venues Taking Precautions as Coronavirus Continues to Spread Globally

As the deadly Coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, local officials are taking precautions. Yet according to statements by the Rose Bowl and the Convention Center, both locations are continuing with events.

According to Rose Bowl General Manager Darryl Dunn, as of now Korean Pop supergroup BTS is still planning to perform May 2-3 and May 5 at the Rose Bowl. The group did cancel its Seoul concerts in April. On Thursday, 256 new cases of the outbreak were reported in South Korea, bringing the total number of reported cases to over 2,000.

“It is unavoidable that the [Seoul] concert must be canceled without further delay,” read an announcement in Korean on the band’s Twitter page at the time. “Please understand that this decision was made after extensive and careful consideration.”
According to Dunn, the stadium is now being cleaned every two hours.

“We do have cleaning staff on site every day,” said Meredith Thomas, director of communications. “We’ve actually upped our cleaning within the facility to every two hours. That’s something that was implemented this past Monday.”

“Our cleaning staff is typically on site every day, but their actual cleaning and maintenance of this facility has picked up with this known virus.”

The Rose Bowl hosts major sold-out concerts, and widely attended UCLA football games every year.

At least 3,100 people have died from the virus worldwide, and 90,000 people are currently infected.

So far there are no known cases in Pasadena. Sixty cases have been reported in California as of Friday morning.

Jeanne Goldschmidt, executive director of the Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau, said  the city’s emergency  health declaration “was the right thing to do.”

“We are communicating with our clients to keep them informed of the latest news as it relates to their upcoming events in Pasadena,” Goldschmidt said. “We are also working closely with our meeting planners to evaluate their events on a case by case basis. Right now there are no federal restrictions on meetings, events and travel in the United States.”

The Convention & Visitors Bureau has published extensive materials related to the virus, online here.

According to city spokesperson Lisa Derderian, the city has been in contact with local stakeholders. Fitness centers have been reminded to wipe down common areas including weights and treadmills.

City officials have also spoken to officials at the Pasadena Senior Center, where classes are held throughout the week.

Several places have installed more hand sanitizers.

“We’re working with some of our larger hotels in town because they have events often, even our city employees,” said Derderian. “We have a thousand-plus city employees, so we’re keeping them updated so they have the latest information.”

The outbreak has impacted the stock market, stoking fears of a global recession.

King’s County in Washington state has been particularly hard hit, with eight deaths from the virus. Nordstrom’s corporate office employees in Seattle have been told to telecommute and work from home. Amazon and Facebook have made similar edicts to their employees.

A doctor in Tokyo recommended the Olympics be postponed.

Atlanta-based Gas South has also sent its employees home.

Yet not all career fields can work from home. Local restaurants and retail businesses make up a big part of Old Pasadena.

“The first response when I bring it up to my tax clients is there’s a lot of misinformation out there that’s coming from the news media and just people in general,” said local businessman Ishmael Trone. “They’re just going along and continuing to go about their daily lives as normal. But they are concerned about schools and places where there are a lot of people gathering in one place.”