COVID forces Coachella to cancel for the third time

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was called off Friday due to coronavirus concerns, according to a tweet from Cameron Kaiser, public health officer for Riverside County where the annual festival is held.

The state of play: Coachella was among the first major events canceled in April 2020, in the early days of the pandemic. It was rescheduled to October, and again pushed back to April 2021. Riverside County health officials also canceled Stagecoach Country Music Festival. New dates for the festivals have not been announced.

• Coachella historically can draw up to 125,000 people per day.

What they're saying: "Due to the pandemic, Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser today (Jan. 29) signed a public health order canceling Coachella Valley Music and Arts, Stagecoach Country Music festivals planned for April 2021. We look forward to when the events may return," Kaiser said via tweet.

• The order said both events are “gatherings of an international scope” and too risky given the spike and reports of more contagious variants in the U.S.
• “If COVID-19 were detected at these festivals, the scope and number of attendees and the nature of the venue would make it infeasible, if not impossible, to track those who may be placed at risk,” the order said.

The big picture: Concert and live event venues have experienced hundreds of nationwide closures since the pandemic got underway.