Coronavirus was announced to be a pandemic last week, with a total of 1,543 cases confirmed in the UK – although the actual number of UK cases is thought to be up to 50,000.
The government has issued precautionary guidelines to follow in order to control the outbreak, with members of the public recommended to work from home where possible and avoid public gatherings to prevent the spread of the virus.
Theatre performances, sporting events and musical concerts have been cancelled, with rumours that this summer's festivals are next.
This morning, Glastonbury was the first to announce its cancellation, releasing a statement.
‘We are so sorry to announce this, but Glastonbury 2020 will have to be cancelled, and this will be an enforced fallow year for the Festival,’ Michael and Emily Eavis announced in a statement.
‘Clearly this was not a course of action we hoped to take for our 50th anniversary event, but following the new government measures announced this week - and in times of such unprecedented uncertainty - this is out only viable option.'
The statement continued: ‘We very much hope the situation in the UK will have improved enormously by the end of June. But even if it has, we are no longer able to spend the next three months with thousands of crew here on the farm, helping us with the enormous job of building the infrastructure and attractions needed to welcome more than 200,000 people to a temporary city in these fields.'
Concluding the statement, they wrote: ‘We were so looking forward to welcoming you all for our 50th anniversary with a line-up full of fantastic artists and performers that we were incredibly proud of have booked. Again, we’re so sorry that this decision has been made. It was not through choice. But we look forward to welcoming you back to these fields next year and until then, we send our love and support to all of you.’
Well, that's depressing but we're looking forward to Glastonbury next year!
