Ghost Town Philly, Comcast and the Summer Olympics Postponement, and NJ Coronavirus Numbers Surge

Even the Rocky statue is lonely during the Philadelphia coronavirus crisis. (AP Photo)

A roundup of Philly coronavirus news.

Coronavirus Turns Philly Into a Ghost Town

What “a sharp and sudden contrast,” as a colleague of mine put it on Tuesday morning.

A few days ago, even though people finally seemed to understand that the coronavirus had arrived and was about to cause unimaginable economic devastation in Philadelphia, many folks were still going about their lives as normally as possible. Backyard barbecues. Playdates with school friends or kids from the neighborhood. Taking a stroll just to see what there was to see.

But after Mayor Kenney issued his stay-at-home order — which boils down to: don’t leave the house unless it’s really important and definitely don’t hang out with your friends unless you’re doing so virtually — Philadelphians seem to have accepted their new reality, by and large. And Philly looks like a ghost town.

“I have enough groceries to last me through the end of April,” one South Philly resident told me. “I think we’ll be done by then. You might see me on my stoop, assuming there aren’t other people hanging around nearby. But that’s about it.”

Here’s hoping her “end of April” prediction holds true.

The Coronavirus, Comcast, and the Summer Olympics

On March 3rd, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said he was “optimistic” that the Summer Olympics would go on as scheduled this summer in Tokyo. In case you don’t know, Comcast holds the broadcast rights for the Summer Olympics and the event is a huge moneymaker for the company.

Alas, officials have postponed the Summer Olympics thanks to the coronavirus.

“The Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community,” the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said in a statement released on Tuesday morning.

On Sunday, the IOC said that a final decision would be made in the next month. That decision wound up taking just two days.

Comcast reportedly sold about $1.25 billion in advertising for the 2020 Summer Olympics. The company has yet to release a statement about the cancelation.

Speaking of Postponements…

If you’ve been training for the Broad Street Run, you have some more time to get into perfect shape for the popular race. Organizers have moved the Broad Street Run from May 3rd to October 4th. You can read more about the postponement here.

New Jersey’s Coronavirus Numbers Surge

In the new world of coronavirus statistics, we’re pretty sure that you don’t want to suddenly be the state with the second highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country. But that’s just the position that New Jersey suddenly finds itself in.

Less than ten days ago, New Jersey reported just shy of 100 coronavirus cases. On Tuesday? 2,844, a jump of almost 1,000 from just the day before. 27 people have died in New Jersey as a result of the coronavirus.

As for Pennsylvania, we have 698 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Time to Meditate!

Your stress level is through the roof. You’ve got a lot of time on your hands. Put those two elements together and the solution is obvious: meditate. Fortunately for you, Philly-area studios are streaming at-home meditation classes.

Say it with me now: Ommmmmmmmmmmm.