With the 2020 Coachella Music & Arts Festival set to begin on Friday, April 10, the festival's producers are considering canceling the event amidst the pandemonium surrounding the novel coronavirus. Last week, Los Angeles County declared a state of emergency after six new cases of the virus were confirmed in less than 24 hours. New York has done the same after a recent spike in cases of the disease have been discovered throughout the city while countries like Italy have quarantined millions of citizens trying to contain the coronavirus. Now, Riverside County, where the festival is held, has reportedly confirmed its first case of the coronavirus making the Coachella planners question whether or not if they should continue to go through with the highly-popularized event, according to TMZ.
Riverside County public health officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser announced Sunday (March 8) that a patron in the city tested positive for the coronavirus and is currently being quarantined at the Eisenhower Medical Center, located 25 minutes away from the festival site in Indio, CA.
Dr. Kaiser revealed to The Los Angeles Times that he is considering a ban on social gatherings, which could directly impact Coachella. The medical official stated to the publication:
"If we do make an emergency declaration based on changes in local conditions, as a public health officer I do have the ability to shut down such large gatherings. We would do so with as much lead time as possible."
SxSW was canceled days ago after major companies such as Apple, Amazon, and more withdrew their participation from the event held in Austin, TX. The festival producers are attempting to reschedule the festivities once the virus is contained and controlled. Now, Coachella is on the verge of cancellation due to the same concerns.
This year's Coachella line up was expected to be major as musicians like Frank Ocean, Big Sean, Roddy Ricch, DaBaby, and more were all set to perform. In the coming weeks, Riverside County's public health officials will make a decision on whether or not to cancel the world-renowned Coachella festival.