NEW YORK - New York City's marathon, scheduled to be held on Nov. 1, has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organizer said Wednesday.
New York Road Runners, a nonprofit organization, said in a statement that they made the decision "to cancel the world's largest marathon due to coronavirus-related health and safety concerns for runners, spectators, volunteers, staff, and the many partners and communities that support the event."
The annual marathon, which had 53,640 finishers last year, will take place on Nov. 7, 2021 instead, the organizer said.
In a statement posted on the organizer's website, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was quoted as saying, "While the marathon is an iconic and beloved event in our city, I applaud New York Road Runners for putting the health and safety of both spectators and runners first."
This year's marathon was set to mark the 50th anniversary of the event. "We look forward to hosting the 50th running of the marathon in November of 2021," the mayor added.
The state of New York, which has been the country's hardest-hit by the coronavirus with over 30,000 fatalities, is reopening its economy with New York City also easing restrictions on businesses and social distancing in phases.
In the face of surges of virus infections in many U.S. states that reopened their economies earlier, local authorities remain cautious about returning to normal quickly.
Along with the governors of Connecticut and New Jersey, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that the three states will require travelers from nine U.S. states such as Florida and Texas with high numbers of coronavirus infections to quarantine for 14 days to prevent the spread of the virus, effective midnight Wednesday.
The United Nations has said it will implement a three-stage plan to bring its staff back to the office amid the pandemic, having only 400 of its over 4,000 workers return during the first stage, set to begin in July at the earliest.
All the workers normally based at the U.N. headquarters in Manhattan have worked from home since March 16.
