The Louisiana Sportsman Show and the Bulls, Bands, and Barrels events this weekend at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center will go on as planned, as organizers urged visitors to take precautions against the novel coronavirus, a respiratory illness that has caused a global pandemic.

Theatre Baton Rouge, a Mid-City community theater troupe, had hoped Friday to go forward with with two plays this weekend, "Fox on the Fairway" and "A Doll's House, Part 2" but later announced those events would be canceled.

Kyle Rogers, general manager of Lamar-Dixon, issued a statement Friday morning saying the shows will go on but he also urged caution.

The events' "organizers are urging people to educate themselves on COVID-19 coronavirus, and take all necessary precautions," Rogers said in a statement.

The threat of the respiratory illness, which has already killed more than 5,000 people worldwide, has prompted the cancellation or postponement of public events locally and around the nation, including March Madness, the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament, the Masters golf championship, the Boston Marathon, the St. Patrick's Day parades in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and a number of events put on by BREC.

LSU, Southern and other universities around the nation are ending in-person classes and switching to online learning for the spring semester, and all Broadway performances in New York City have also canceled through April 12.

As the number of people in Louisiana with the coronavirus rose to 19 on Thursday more universities are moving online and virtually all sports

The owner of the Louisiana Sportsman Show, which began Thursday, resumed Friday morning and lasts through Sunday, didn't return a message for comment that was left with a staffer early Friday.

Attempts to reach the organizer of the Bulls, Bands, and Barrels event set for Saturday at Lamar-Dixon were unsuccessful. An email sent through the event's general contact portal on its website hadn't been returned early Friday.

Bulls, Bands, and Barrels heads to Bossier City on April 4.

Jenny Ballard, Theatre Baton Rouge's creative director, said the 327-theater decided to cancel its plays after Gov. John Bel Edwards ended all events with more than 250 people and have been informing patrons and volunteers.

"Fox on the Fairway" had its last run this weekend -- Friday, Saturday and Sunday -- but all those shows have been canceled. "A Doll's House, Part 2" was opening this weekend, but its shows will be rescheduled once theater officials have a clearer idea about the extent of coronavirus's impact on public gatherings, Ballard said.

She added the theater has also postponed classes, auditions and other group gatherings for the next several weeks. Only necessary staff will be working at the theater.

"We want to keep everyone in the building safe, and this was the only thing we could do," Ballard said.

Though the tally of those in Louisiana with presumptive positive tests for coronavirus had reached 33 by early Friday, none of those people were in Ascension or East Baton Rouge parishes, state health officials said. The events are aimed, however, at drawing a regional audience. Many of the positives tests have been in southeast Louisiana.

Ascension Parish government officials, who own and operate the multi-use event complex near Gonzales, have referred questions about the Louisiana Sportsman Show to its organizers because it is a private event.

Southern University's spring semester schedule is changing moving forward in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak in Louisiana, school l

In statements about both events going forward this week, officials urged visitors to follow state health warnings, including covering one's mouth while coughing, washing one's hands and staying home if one is sick.

The warnings in the statement also discussed state and federal authorities' warnings about social distancing, saying visitors should avoid close contact with those who are sick, at least six feet.

It wasn't clear from the statements how organizers or visitors would be able to maintain social distance at the open public events or how visitors would know who is sick and, thus, avoid them.

In Louisiana, coronavirus testing had reached fewer than 100 people as of Thursday. The virus, which can be spread through airborne droplets or by lingering on surfaces, has an extended incubation period.

If you have questions about coronavirus, please email our newsroom at online@theadvocate.com.

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Sportsman, rodeo events go forward in Ascension; Baton Rouge theater canceled amid coronavirus fears - The Advocate