Elk Grove, a city in Sacramento County, has canceled a highly-anticipated Lunar New Year celebration due to concerns over the Coronavirus.
City officials said in a Facebook post: “Out of an abundance of caution, the City and its Diversity and Inclusion Commission have canceled the Lunar New Year Celebration scheduled for this Friday, January 31, at District56. According to Sacramento County Public Health, the risk of the Novel Coronavirus remains low in Northern California.”
The post then stated that the city event organizers were following suit to similar, cautionary cancellations of New Year’s festivals in Sacramento and other metropolitan cities.
The Elk Grove celebration was to be the city’s second Lunar New Year event, as well as “the first time it was going to be held at District 56,” Good Day Sacramento reported.
The Coronavirus is “low risk in California,” and city officials “do not intend to try and incite panic” with this announcement, said Kristyn Laurence of the Elk Grove.
There have been five cases of infection in the U.S., but American officials are not overly concerned.
“Americans should know this is a potentially very serious public health threat, but at this point Americans should not worry for their own safety,” Alex M. Azar, secretary of health and human services, said at a briefing according to The New York Times.
Meanwhile, residents of Elk Grove, particularly within the Asian community, have expressed concern about hundreds of people being crammed into an indoor space, which would have been the case during Lunar New Year.
“Because with all this going on, people are coming from China, Japan, and everything like that. So what’s going to happen if this thing’s going to happen? If they are here from a different country?” Jinky Dolar said in an interview with Good Day Sacramento.
The virus has infected about 4,515 people in China, with the death toll rising to 106, the New York Times reported. It appears to have originated from Wuhan, China, and its seafood-animal market. It has since spread from person to person, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Symptoms include a runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, and fever, which can lead to ” lower-respiratory tract illnesses, such as pneumonia or bronchitis,” according to the CDC. There is no vaccine.
The CDC advises travelers who have visited Wuhan within the last 14 days and are experiencing symptoms to be tested, as well as for U.S. citizens to avoid “all nonessential travel to China.”
There have been cases in other countries, including Thailand, Hong Kong, France, Japan, Canada, and Germany. No deaths have occurred outside of China. U.S. officials, however, have expanded screening to 20 airports and have issued a travel alert.
At least 110 U.S. citizens are being closely monitored for symptoms, The Hill reported.
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