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The last trace of a live sporting event in New York has joined the rest of the sports world in postponing until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced Thursday that live racing at Aqueduct Racetrack would be suspended after a backstretch worker who lives and works at Belmont Park tested positive for the virus Thursday morning.

“This individual and his roommate have been in isolation since prior to racing last Friday and as such did not travel to Aqueduct for live racing,” said NYRA CEO and President Dave O’Rourke. “We are working with the County and State departments of health to ensure proper quarantine and sterilization practices will continue to be followed moving forward.

“We are focused on ensuring the health and safety of our entire backstretch community, as well as the horses in their care. Accordingly, we are immediately suspending racing operations until further notice to devote all our attention and resources to this effort.”

Racing at Aqueduct, which is conducted Fridays through Sundays in March, is postponed until further notice. A decision on when live racing will resume will be made at a later date. Until then, the Belmont Park backstretch and its facilities will remain open to horsemen and operational for training. However, owners are not permitted access to the backstretch until further notice.

NYRA has deployed multiple outside cleaning vendors in order to comply with the best practices outlined by the New York State Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Preparedness and Response Plan Committee, which comprises essential NYRA staff members, representatives from the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NYTHA), the Backstretch Employee Service Team (BEST) and the New York Race Track Chaplaincy of America (NYRTCA), say they’ve closely monitored the coronavirus pandemic for the past couple weeks in order to install protocols for managing both the Aqueduct and Belmont properties.

“At this point in the COVID-19 crisis, we all need to be 100 percent focused on the health of our staff and the welfare of our horses,” said NYTHA President Joe Appelbaum. “When the industry comes out the other side of this — and we will — having as many healthy horses and humans as possible will be paramount.”