Coronavirus Outbreak Postpones 19th Tribeca Film Festival; Health, Safety Prioritized

The 19th Tribeca Film Festival has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

A number of events and movie premieres have been pushed back due to COVID-19. Sources close to the Tribeca Film Festival revealed that its 19th edition, which was set to take place from April 15 to 26, would be delayed.

“We founded the Tribeca Film Festival as a way to heal our community after the devastation of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. We were determined to overcome our fear and anxiety by joining together. It is in our DNA to march forward while caring about our community,” Tribeca co-founder and CEO of Tribeca Enterprises Jane Rosenthal said in a statement given to Deadline.

“We have made the difficult decision to postpone the 19th Tribeca Film Festival (April 15-26) based on the announcement by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that events of 500 people or more are banned due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. We are committed to ensuring the health and safety of the public while also supporting our friends, filmmakers and storytellers who look to Tribeca as a platform to showcase their work to audiences. We will be back to you shortly with our plans.”

The decision was made on the heels of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s statewide ban of gathering more than 500 people. The same ruling forced 31 Broadway productions to shut down until April 12. Also, the shows that were set to begin next month were also postponed.

According to Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York City has 95 cases of coronavirus and could have as many as 1,000 next week as he declared state emergency. On Thursday, New York State confirmed 328 coronavirus cases and 112 were added overnight.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump compared coronavirus to the common flu. According to the POTUS, 37,000 Americans had died from the common flu and nothing was shut down, implying that the public should not panic.

However, netizens didn’t agree because unlike the flu, there is no vaccine or antiviral drug for coronavirus. Also, an online user from Italy said that they made a big mistake by treating the disease like the flu.