Coachella music festival postponed amid coronavirus concerns

UPDATE: 1:20 p.m.

The Coachella music festival in Southern California has been postponed amid virus concerns.

The festival is organized by concert promoter Goldenvoice, which released a statement today saying it will be rescheduled for two weekends in October.

Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott and Frank Ocean had been scheduled to headline the April festival, which attracts tens of thousands to the desert community of Indio, California, and the nearby cities of Palm Springs and Rancho Mirago.

The festival is held over two weekends has a reputation for eye-popping performances, including Beyoncé’s 2018 set that became the Netflix film “Homecoming,” and the 2012 debut of a “hologram” of late rapper Tupac Shakur. This year’s festival was set to reunite Rage Against the Machine — which performed at the first Coachella festival in 1999.

Goldenvoice also puts on the country music festival Stagecoach in Indio. This year’s Stagecoach is scheduled to be held April 24-26 and with the headliners Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood and Eric Church.

Two people infected with COVID-19 have died in California.

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Carlos Santana is the latest musician to cancel concerts because of public health concerns and performance restrictions due to the growing coronavirus outbreak.

The Grammy-winning star announced today that he has canceled the European tour dates of his Miraculous 2020 World Tour. Refunds will be available through point of purchase. The tour was scheduled to start March 17 in Poland.

Santana has joined a long list of singers who have canceled or postponed shows in the U.S. and outside of the region, including Pearl Jam, Madonna, Ciara, BTS, Khalid, Mariah Carey, Green Day and more. The South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, has been canceled, and the Ultra electronic dance music festival in Miami has been postponed.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered.