The Confucius Institute at the University of Arizona has canceled this Saturday’s Global Chinese New Year Festival Show over growing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak that originated in China.
As of Monday, five cases of the new virus had been confirmed in the U.S., including one in the Phoenix area.
University officials decided to cancel the Feb. 1 event at Centennial Hall and postpone all related activities until further notice.
The event, expected to draw about 2,000 people, was scrapped “due to travel concerns and related challenges” arising from the outbreak, according to a news release from the university.
“We regret that we have to take this action, but it’s best to be careful at this stage,” Liesl Folks, UA provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said in the release. “Our thoughts are with the victims of this virus in China and here at home, and we’re hopeful that all the people working around the world to contain and control this threat are soon successful.”
The new strain of coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people in central China where thousands of people have developed virus-related respiratory illness and at least 80 have died.
Despite tight travel restrictions imposed by the Chinese government, coronavirus cases have now been reported in 15 other countries worldwide. In addition to the five confirmed cases in the U.S., test results were pending Monday for another 73 people possibly infected with the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC is monitoring the spread of the virus and is working with the World Health Organization on ways to contain it, including entry screenings of airline passengers on direct and connecting flights from Wuhan to Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco.
The Tucson Chinese Cultural Center hosted its Chinese New Year celebration on Saturday and plans to hold its Lunar New Year Gala as scheduled on Feb. 15 at the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa. Susan Chan, executive director of the cultural center, said the Tucson organization uses “all local performers” so it hasn’t been impacted by the outbreak in the same way as Chinese cultural organizations in Phoenix and elsewhere that bring in visiting performers for New Year’s events.
This Saturday’s festivities at the UA were slated to start at 2 p.m.
“We have canceled the events out of an abundance of caution and respect for the performers and potential attendees,” Zhao Chen, director of the Confucius Institute and chair of the university’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, said in an email Monday. Show tickets purchased directly from the Centennial Hall Box Office can be returned by calling 520-621-3341.
For purchases not made through Centennial Hall, you can call the Confucius Institute at 520-626-5124 or contact the local Chinese organization from which the tickets were purchased.
