True North cancels events at Bell MTS Place, Burton Cummings Theatre amid fears of coronavirus

True North Sports and Entertainment is cancelling some upcoming events due to avoid the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus, the organization announced Thursday.

"It's been a remarkable day for public assembly events in general," said Kevin Donnelly, senior vice-president of venues and entertainment.

Aside from the National Hockey League and American Hockey League seasons being postponed, Disney On Ice shows scheduled at Bell MTS Place this weekend is cancelled, as is a concert at the Burton Cummings Theatre on March 17, andThe Glorious Sons show at Bell MTS on March 21.

Donnelly elaborated on why this weekend's Disney On Ice show was cancelled.

Prior to stopping in Winnipeg, the tour stopped in Salt Lake City, Utah, toperform at theVivint Smart Home Arenathe same arena in which the NBA's Utah Jazz play.

Two Jazz players have tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 24 hours.

"We will work with each promoter on a case-by-case basis, to determine whether to proceed with the event, and we do expect other announcements about changes and dates, and possibly more cancellations as this progresses," adding that True North will continue working with health officials as well.

The case-by-case depends mainly on the expected audience, said Donnelly, adding that the warnings have been specific for people over the age of 65.

Season postponement not a difficult call

As the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose return from their respective road trips,True North chairman Mark Chipman said the decision made by the NHL and AHLboards of governorsto postpone their respective seasons "wasn't difficult at all.

"Both meetings were very brief. There were a few questions, understandably, justabout logistics and frankly there's still a great deal of work to do to sort those details out on such short notice," Chipmansaid, adding that the organization will learn more from the leagueswith "each passing hour."

As of now, there is no sense of how long the seasons will be put on hold, Chipman said.

"None of us are infectious disease experts. We really have to yield to the science, and wait and see how that reveals itself before we can even begin to speculate on how soon we can get back and how many games we can play," he said, though adding that "it's not inconceivable" that NHL hockey will be played as late as July.

Event postponements and cancellations will have an effect on True North financially, but Chipman said it's too soon to tell what the damage will be.

He saidemployeesare being kept up to date about any changes, and that nobody has been laid off.

"Regrettably, to the extent that we're not putting on shows or games, people obviously would not have a call to work," Chipman said, however.

Donnelly added that events getting postponed is better than cancelled, because an employee's work day gets pushed back instead of axed completely.