California Governor Gavin Newsom has commented on the possibility of large scale events taking place in the state, raising doubts on Comic-Con International in San Diego taking place later this year -- and even in 2021.Associated Press California and national political reporter Kathleen Ronayne posted Newsom's statements on Twitter, calling them "Bad news for concert venues, sports stadiums."
"The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity and we get to a vaccine. Large scale events that bring in hundreds, thousand, tens of thousands of strangers..is not in the cards," Newsom said.
"We need to get our kids back to school. I need to get my kids back to school," he continued. Ronayne added that Newsom believes the fall could see the start of school days being staggered, along with new standards being set for school sanitation, lunchtimes and recess.
As for what this means for the prospects of San Diego Comic-Con taking place this summer and next year, we need only look to Newsom's comments: the governor doesn't foresee any mass gatherings or large scale events taking place in California until herd immunity and a vaccine are available. That would rule out this year's San Diego Comic-Con, and with the creation of vaccines typically taking 12-18 months to test and then implement, it's likely San Diego Comic-Con 2021 will also need to be canceled. However, with the ongoing pandemic forcing the world's population to self-isolate and quarantine at home, this remains a very fluid situation.
The San Diego Convention Center, which houses Comic-Con, is currently being used as an emergency center for the city's homeless population in order to halt the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Comic-Con International in San Diego is currently scheduled to take place July 23-26 at the San Diego Convention Center, with additional events hosted throughout the city's Gaslamp Quarter.
For more information on COVID-19, along with basic protective measures such as social distancing, please visit the World Health Organization website.