The Indiana High School Athletic Association on Thursday afternoon announced that the remaining games in its boys basketball state tournament will continue, but with limited spectators in attendance as it copes with the growing virus outbreak.
The Indianapolis-based NCAA is weighing potential health risks to athletes against hundreds of millions of dollars on which the institution and dozens of athletic conferences and universities rely on for economic stability.
Top Democratic lawmakers want Gov. Eric Holcomb to provide more information on what the state is doing to respond to the coronavirus threat, but Republican leaders say they trust the governor to handle the situation appropriately.
More than 35,000 students from 300 schools were set to perform through April 11.
The coronavirus crisis sent stocks into another alarming slide on Wall Street on Thursday, triggering a brief, automatic shutdown in trading for the second time this week.
The tournament started Wednesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Fans were present for Wednesday’s games, but the conference that evening barred fans for the remaining days.
The Seattle-based coffee giant has about 15,000 U.S. stores and 1,600 Canadian stores.
The department said it had tested 64 Hoosiers for the virus. No deaths have been reported.
Combined, the events were expected to draw in upwards of $35 million in revenue for local businesses, including hotels and restaurants.
While Indianapolis-based Butler announced that its switch to virtual instruction would continue at least through April 4, officials for Muncie-based Ball State said they planned to suspend in-person classes through the entire spring semester.
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday night that he will instruct the Treasury Department to allow individuals and businesses negatively affected by the coronavirus to defer their tax payments beyond the April 15 filing deadline.
The decision follows news that a player has tested positive for the virus. A source said the league expects the shutdown to last a minimum of two weeks.
President Donald Trump said he is suspending all travel between the United States and Europe beginning Friday as he seeks to combat the viral pandemic. The move was one of several executive actions he announced to the nation Wednesday night.
The decision came less than two hours after the NCAA said it would play its March Madness games in empty stadiums and shortly after the first Big Ten game tipped off at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
NCAA President Mark Emmert announced the games will be open only to “essential staff and limited family attendance.”
The losses accelerated after health authorities declared the outbreak a pandemic, and brought the U.S. stock market to the end of one of its greatest-ever runs.
Stocks fell from the opening of trading in New York, including a 3.7% loss for the S&P 500. The losses deepened as the day progressed, and the Dow Jones industrial average was down more than 1,000 points in the early afternoon.
The Indiana State Department of Health on Wednesday said the number of presumptive positive cases for COVID-19 has risen to 10 in the state after the emergence of four more cases.
Around Indiana, hospital officials say they have stepped up safety precautions in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. But even amid extensive preparation, some acknowledge that if the disease spreads quickly, it could test their facilities.
Alarming clusters of the coronavirus grew on both coasts of the United States on Tuesday, with more than 70 cases now tied to a biotech conference in Boston and infections turning up at 10 nursing homes in the hard-hit Seattle area.
