Chinese New Year's event in Tucson canceled due to coronavirus

The Chinese Cultural Center has postponed its Feb. 15 Chinese New Year’s Gala, and the Organization of Chinese Americans of Tucson put off until March 1 its annual Lunar New Year’s Banquet and Scholarship Presentation that was to take place Saturday, Feb. 8.

The events are the latest to be shelved out of concern about the coronavirus outbreak that originated in China in late December. Other local cancellations included the Global Chinese New Year Festival Show that the Confucius Institute at the University of Arizona was hosting late last month.

Susan Chan, executive director of the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, said the center’s board of directors decided to postpone the Chinese New Year’s event out of an abundance of caution and consideration for those affected in China and beyond.

Wendy Karahalios, president of the Organization of Chinese Americans, said her board had similar concerns in postponing the scholarship dinner, which will award three to five students with $500 college scholarships.

“A lot of people were asking us to make sure that we don’t have any guests who were visiting China or had come back from China. There is no way that we can find out so our board ... voted that it’s better to postpone and be safe than sorry,” Karahalios said. Since the first reported case of the novel virus in Wuhan, China, on Dec. 31, world health officials have confirmed more than 31,000 cases, including 11 in the United States.

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The closest to Tucson was a case reported last month at Arizona State University.

The new coronavirus strain poses flu-like respiratory issues, coughing, fevers and sore throat, but the symptoms don’t immediately appear.

Chan said the Chinese Cultural Center is hoping to reschedule its gala for either May during Asian Heritage Month or September to coincide with the annual Autumn Moon Festival. The event, which usually has about 250 people attending, is the center’s largest fundraiser, bringing in between $30,00 and $40,000.

“We’re going to try to do it hopefully in late spring or fall depending on how severe the coronavirus is going to be at that point,” she said. “We have to do it. That’s a lot of money to lose.”

Proceeds from this year’s event will be earmarked to the center’s endowment fund, Chan said.