Philadelphia cancels large events through February; Eagles' games to have no fans

Large-scale events won’t be happening for the rest of the year in Philadelphia, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

On Tuesday, officials announced that big public events would not be permitted through February.

Philadelphia health commissioner Thomas Farley said the decision and time frame came because a coronavirus vaccine would not be ready before then.

“The bigger lesson right now is that we’re going to have to live with this virus for a long time … We’re going to have to have some restrictions on our actions until we deploy a vaccine,” Farley said.

Some of the events that won’t happen now are the Philadelphia Marathon and the city’s Thanksgiving Day parade, which has been celebrated annually for 100 years.

In the green phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s reopening plan, large gatherings of 250 or more are prohibited. All Pennsylvania counties are currently in the green phase.

When it comes to pro sports, there won’t be fans watching Philadelphia Eagles or Phillies games in the stands for the foreseeable future.

”I do think that games can be played with the kind of safety precautions that they’re proposing,” Farley said. “I do not think that they can have spectators at those games. There’s no way for them to be safe having a crowd there.”

Philadelphia managing director Brian Abernathy said NFL guidelines “remind teams that local authorities have the ability to ban fans” and he doesn’t expect any issues.