The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Is Canceled for the Rest of March Due to COVID-19

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is closing today at 4 p.m. and will be canceled for the rest of the month, the Rodeo tweeted today. The announcement comes as the city of Houston has declared a health emergency and canceled or delayed all public events for the month of March, according to the Houston Business Journal.

Officials came to the conclusion in light of a new presumptive positive coronavirus case reported this week in Montgomery County involving a patient who hadn’t traveled internationally.

Click2Houston reports that the Montgomery County coronavirus patient attended the barbecue cookoff at the Rodeo on February 28, according to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. The judge says that epidemiologists are retracing the patient’s steps trying to figure out if the patient had symptoms while at the Houston Rodeo’s Bar-B-Que Contest.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a press conference: “Those of us who are Texans through and through from our region, you know just how much we love the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.” He added: “The decision to cancel it has not come easily.”

• Mayor: Rodeo Houston canceled on coronavirus fears [HBJ]
• Houston Rodeo canceled as emergency declared over coronavirus [Click2Houston]
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