The return of the Penguins and Pirates playing before fans in Pittsburgh remains at least weeks away after state officals announced that Allegheny County and most of Southwestern Pennsylvania will remain in the red phase of the reopening process.

Although two dozen northern counties will move to the yellow phase on May 8, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said Friday at a press briefing that Gov. Tom Wolf won’t allow sports to resume until a county is given full clearance due to concerns over the coronavirus that causes covid-19.

“Organized sports are not going to be allowed under the yellow phase,” Levine said. “We’d have to wait to the green phase for that to be allowed. As the governor has been saying, yellow means caution, and it would not be an exercise of caution to let team sports play.”

On April 9, the PIAA canceled all springs sports for high schools. Youth baseball and softball also have suspended their seasons, and the Little League World Series in Williamsport was canceled for the first time in the organization’s history.

What wasn’t clear is whether teams will be permitted to return to their facilities for practice in preparation of their seasons resuming.

The NHL and NHL Players Association Return to Play Committee released a statement on Wednesday signaling hopes that players “might return to small group activities” at team training facilities in the “mid-to-later portion of May.”

USA Today reported Thursday that MLB is considering the possibility of having teams resume spring training for several weeks at their home stadiums in preparation for a reduced season.

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