A number of concerts and festivals have been canceled or postponed due to Coronavirus. An infectious disease physician specialist had told Rolling Stone that these actions are not dramatic step and that it is absolutely necessary.

On Thursday (March 12), Live Nation/AEG announced that they will be canceling tours until further notice as the virus continues to spread. Dr. Daniel Griffin has explained the importance of these shows being canceled.

“The concern we’re seeing now is that, as we have an increased capacity to do testing, we’re seeing that this virus is already widespread in the country,” Dr. Griffin said. “You go to a concert, there’s that many people and that level of transmission that occurs at a concert. Unfortunately, those will be big spreading events.”

He continued, “We’ve been for a while sending the message of, ‘Everyone stay calm, we’re doing everything we can.’ And some people are saying, ‘Really?’ And the ‘Really’ is starting to get a little louder when they say, ‘Isn’t that a woman in her thirties who just got admitted to the intensive care unit? You said only old people got sick.’ And we’re starting to see that. I say no one under the age of nine has died. And the question I get now is, ‘That means a nine-year old died?’ And I say, ‘That is what that means.’ That’s why I say no one under nine. You know, teenagers have died, unfortunately. And people in their twenties and thirties. So if you create a situation where there’s spread — a certain percent of every age group, at least above the age of nine, there will be deaths.”