Austin officials cancel South by Southwest festival

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Austin city officials have canceled the South by Southwest arts and technology festival.

Mayor Steve Adler announced a local disaster as a precaution because of the threat of the novel coronavirus, effectively cancelling the annual event.

The announcement comes days after several high-profile companies, including Netflix, tech news outlet Mashable, video-based social media platform TikTok and U.S. chip maker Intel, pulled out of the festival.

An Update on SXSW 2020. Please read our full statement here: https://t.co/P56nF8KFmEpic.twitter.com/ouJPKM9GNy

— SXSW (@sxsw) March 6, 2020

More than 50,000 people had signed a petition seeking to get the festival cancelled.

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus has climbed to 14, with all but one victim in Washington state, while the number of infections swelled to over 200 scattered across at least 18 states, including at least six cases in the Houston area.

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