NEW YORK, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. state of New York will ban gatherings with 500 people or more, including Broadway shows, as a precaution due to the coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.
The ban will be in effect on Friday at 5 p.m. local time (2100 GMT). "Additionally, for facilities with an occupancy of 500 or fewer, we are reducing the legal capacity by 50%," Cuomo said on Twitter.
"For Broadway theaters in Manhattan, these rules will go into effect at 5pm TODAY. We have already spoken to the theaters about these new measures and they agreed," he noted.
The Broadway League said the closing would last through April 12.
Other institutions, including Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Opera, announced Thursday that they would temporarily shut down.
New York state currently has more than 300 COVID-19 cases and is the second most impacted state in the United States next to Washington state.
