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The University of North Carolina will begin its fall sports campaigns without fans due to the coronavirus pandemic. UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham wrote a letter to the Tar Heel community to inform them of the decision.
Fans will not be allowed in attendance for the month of September.
That means the UNC football program will open the 2020 season for its first two games at Kenan Stadium against Syracuse and Charlotte without fans in the stands.
“We will begin our fall sport seasons without fans at home events,” Cunningham wrote. “This includes Football, Cross Country, Field Hockey, Men’s and Women’s Soccer and Volleyball. This attendance restriction will last through September, and we will continue to work with medical experts and the University to evaluate safety conditions with the hope that we can increase capacity in October. Tailgating also will not be allowed on campus.
“We know this is disappointing to you – our fans, donors, and supporters — and our venues will not be the same without you there. We will particularly miss the energy, passion and Carolina Blue support of our students, who truly make game day special and unique. This decision, however, was the only way we could move forward with competition. Our student-athletes want to play, and we must do so as safely as possible. We made this decision in consultation with medical experts, our University, and state and local officials.”
The good news, however, is that the football season is scheduled to move forward as planned.
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The coronavirus mainly comes from animals and a majority of those who were infected early either worked at or frequently visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, according to The Guardian. The virus is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The Wuhan coronavirus is transmitted from person to person through “droplet transmission.” That means an infected person can pass the virus by sneezing or coughing on another person as well as by direct contact.
While a majority of the cases have been detected in the United States and China — with more than 5.84 million confirmed cases and 180,000 deaths in the United States — it has now reached many countries around the world. It has also been confirmed in Italy, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and many other eastern countries.
