Coronavirus risk leads to cancellation of Lunar New Year celebration in Elk Grove

A local Lunar New Year Celebration scheduled for Friday has been canceled, according to the City of Elk Grove.

The cancellation comes after two confirmed cases of Novel Coronavirus were reported in Southern California this weekend, bringing the total across the nation to five.

As of 5:30 p.m. Monday, an online dashboard built by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore showed 4,474 confirmed cases and 107 deaths worldwide

While exposure risk is considered low in Northern California, Elk Grove has decided to act with caution.

“According to Sacramento County Public Health, the risk of the Novel Coronavirus remains low in Northern California,” the city wrote in a news release. “However, Elk Grove event organizers are following the lead of similar events in Sacramento and other U.S. metropolitan cities that have canceled their Lunar New Year events.”

The event was scheduled to be held at The Center at District56 in Elk Grove on Friday from 6 to 9 p.m.

This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 6:59 PM with the headline "Coronavirus risk leads to cancellation of Lunar New Year celebration in Elk Grove."