In Duke President Vincent Price's statement responding to coronavirus concerns released Tuesday night, Price said that the school is "postponing, cancelling or virtualizing any Duke-sponsored in-person event with expected attendance of more than 50 people taking place on-campus or off-campus between now and April 20." However, the release also stated that "further guidance on athletic events will be forthcoming."
While no official announcements regarding all of Duke Athletics has been made, follow along The Chronicle’s live blog as we track the response to COVID-19 in relation to Duke's varsity sports teams:
Men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments to be held without fans
NCAA president Mark Emmert released a statement Wednesday afternoon announcing that its men's and women's basketball tournaments would continue, but without fans in attendance. The statement stated that only "essential staff and limited family" would be in attendance, and that the NCAA "will continue to monitor and make adjustments as needed."
In response to Emmert's statement, the ACC announced that Wednesday night's men's basketball tournament games would continue as planned with fans in attendance, and that it will evaluate the remainder of the tournament.
Baseball releases updated guest policy
The Blue Devils' next home series is set to take place at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park this weekend against North Carolina. While the status of that series is still up in the air, the team did release an updated guest policy with regard to coronavirus concerns that includes confirming that "you and your party/guests have not travelled overseas or to a COVID-19 impacted city/state within the United States in the last 14 days" before visiting the ballpark.
The entire policy can be found in the tweet below.
Women's lacrosse matchup with Pennsylvania cancelled
Duke was set to take on Pennsylvania this Saturday at 12 p.m. Per an email from the team Wednesday afternoon, that matchup has been cancelled. The cancellation doesn't appear to have anything to do with Duke's response to coronavirus, however, and more so with the Ivy League's decision to cancel all spring sports.
"The Ivy League announced earlier on Wednesday the cancellation of the spring season for all sports, effective immediately, resulting in Saturday’s game being cancelled," the statement read.
ACC announces no fans at men's basketball tournament starting Thursday
The ACC quickly updated its initial response to Emmert's statement, announcing Wednesday night that games within its men's basketball tournament will proceed with no fans in attendance starting Thursday. The tournament's Wednesday night games were to proceed as previously planned.
ACC cancels remainder of men's basketball tournament
After Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert's positive test for coronavirus late Wednesday night and the NBA's subsequent suspension of its season, things began moving fast.
At first, the ACC announced Wednesday morning that it was moving forward with its men's basketball tournament as previously planned. But after multiple other conferences shut down their own tournaments, the ACC reluctantly followed suit.
Duke suspends all athletic activities
In a statement from Duke President Vincent Price Thursday afternoon, the school officially suspended all athletic activities. This includes games and practices for all teams, no matter the actions of other organizations, such as the NCAA.
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