In a high-profile congressional hearing, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci recommended the mitigating of large gatherings in the wake of the rapidly spreading coronavirus. The coronavirus was declared a pandemic on Wednesday.
Fauci invoked the NBA, which is reportedly considering the prospect of playing empty arena games, in his comments.
"We would recommend that there not be large crowds, if that means not having any people in the audience when the NBA plays, so be it," Fauci said, according to the Daily Mail. "But as a public health official, anything that has large crowds is something that would give a risk to spread.