MTV's 2020 Video Music Awards will be the first event at the Barclays Center since the coronavirus pandemic reached New York.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the awards show will take place Aug. 30 during a press briefing Monday morning. The event will span several locations in all of New York City's five boroughs: Brooklyn, The Bronx, Staten Island, Queens and Manhattan.
MTV told Newsy "the health and safety of artists, fans, industry, staff, and partners is of the utmost importance." Show producers and Barclays Center management have been working with state and local officials to establish safety measures. There are going to be "extensive social distancing procedures, meaningful capacity limitations, the virtualization of components where possible, and limited capacity or no audience."
The announcement was made a day after New York saw its lowest COVID-19 daily death toll and lowest number of hospitalizations since the pandemic began.
