Story at a glance
- Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced the Ultra Music Festival and the Calle Ocho Music Festival will be postponed out of abundance of caution.
- At least three cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Florida.
- There have been 240 confirmed cases in the U.S. with 14 deaths.
Officials from the City of Miami announced Friday two major upcoming music festivals will be postponed due to fears and concerns about the coronavirus.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said during a press conference that the city decided to postpone the Ultra Music Festival and to not approve special event permits for the Calle Ocho Festival out of an abundance of caution, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidelines for large gatherings.
“This decision is not cause for alarm or panic,” Suarez said. “These preventative actions represent our commitment to always put our residents’ well-being first.”
Ultra is a three-day electronic dance music festival that takes place in downtown Miami, with a capacity of 55,000 attendees per day. The festival draws fans from more than 100 countries. The festival was scheduled for March 20-22.
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The Calle Ocho Music Festival spans 20 blocks with 10 stages of music and entertainment in Little Havana. The festival was set to take place March 15.
The cancelation comes after Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez tweeted Tuesday that the festival would continue as planned, saying, “We’re not cancelling any major events…such as Ultra, following the guidance from Florida’s Surgeon General on #Coronavirus.”
Organizers of Ultra reportedly met with elected officials Wednesday to discuss suspension of the three-day event.
The cancelations come as at least 240 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the U.S. with 14 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Three cases have been reported in Florida, with no cases reported in Miami.
READ MORE OF OUR BREAKING NEWS ABOUT CORONAVIRUS
YOUR PHONE CAN TELL YOU HOW WELL PEOPLE IN YOUR COMMUNITY ARE PRACTICING SOCIAL DISTANCING
CAN LYSOL OR CLOROX KILL THE CORONAVIRUS?
IS CORONAVIRUS MORE FATAL TO MEN THAN WOMEN?
CAN YOU GET CORONAVIRUS TWICE?
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