It’s clear that the spread of COVID-19 has become a worldwide pandemic, infecting more than 120,000 and killing more than 4,000 worldwide to date. Just this morning, the United States registered its thousandth case, as concert tours, festivals and sporting events continue to be canceled, postponed or restructured to not allow fans to attend.
Earlier this month, COVID-19 reached Florida; now, the Sunshine State has 28 confirmed cases statewide, with two deaths. Now, all eyes are turning to Tampa, the host city of WrestleMania 36. The WWE mega-event annually draws 75,000-plus wrestling fans from all over the world, as well as thousands more contracted workers, crew, journalists, family, friends and others, for five straight days of events.
WWE officials previously said the company was monitoring the situation, but that was before the outbreak hit Tampa. With just 25 days until April 5, a decision about WrestleMania’s future needs to be made soon — and according to one Tampa journalist, that decision will come down tomorrow after Tampa Mayor Jane Castor meets with the Tampa City Council:
.@CityofTampa and @JaneCastor will meet on Thursday to discuss canceling or postponing "major" events due to #Coronavirus. This weekend's River O'Green fest isn't likely to be canceled.
— Ryan Bass (@Ry_Bass) March 10, 2020
In the meantime, WWE is encouraging fans to wash their hands and discouraging fans from touching their talent. (Apparently, no one told Angel Garza.)
