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Credit: Image: NATAS

2020 Daytime Emmys added to the list postponements.

On Wednesday March 11, The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that they would be postponing the 71st Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards followed by the postponement of the 41st Annual Sports Emmy Awards, which were both scheduled in April. With other events, series, films and Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital and Young and the Restless taking precautions with postponements, cancellations and putting a stop to live studio audiences, Soaps.com can confirm that the 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards have been posponed, which includes the trio of ceremonies that were originally set to take place from Friday June 12 through Sunday June 14.

NATAS chairman Terry O’Reilly announced via a media press release, “Given our concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided that we will not be staging the 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Pasadena this coming June. As there are so many unknowns right now with the flow of information changing on a daily, almost hourly, basis, it would simply be irresponsible to move forward with our annual celebration of excellence in daytime television at this time.”

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“These were extremely difficult decisions to make, but at the end of the day the health and safety of our event attendees and staff must remain our paramount concern,” said Adam Sharp, President & CEO, NATAS. “We are closely monitoring public heath authorities’ guidance, seeking feedback from our awards communities, and evaluating the flexibility of our venue and production partners as we plan for the future in this unprecedented context.”

“While we realize this is disappointing, this does not mean we will not be celebrating the work selected for recognition in our Awards judging processes,” said Brent Stanton, Executive Director, Daytime Emmy Awards. “Judging continues, and we look forward to announcing our incredibly talented nominees later this Spring. We are working on some interesting alternative ideas for how to best recognize the honorees later this year and will share more details in the weeks ahead.”

On Friday March 13, General Hospital announced its production halt, followed by Bold and Beautiful, Days of our Lives and Young and the Restless. Since then many in the daytime community have been self-quarantining and social distancing to take safety and health precautions. Some actors, such as Young and the Restless and Days of our Lives actor Greg Rikaart (Kevin Fisher, Leo Stark) and General Hospital Chloe Lanier (Nelle Benson) have felt frustration over not being able to get tested amid feeling ill. Stay tuned as Soaps.com will update our readers with further details should they develop.