The Cannes Film Festival is “monitoring carefully” the coronavirus after news broke Thursday that confirmed cases of COVID-19 have doubled in France. But festival staff is still preparing for the event scheduled at its usual time this May.
“The Festival de Cannes is monitoring carefully the developments and the latest guidelines provided by the local, national and international authorities regarding the Coronavirus and is in direct link with the Alpes-Maritimes’ administrative office. As of today, it is still premature to express assumptions on an event scheduled in two months and a half,” a spokesperson for the festival told TheWrap.
They continued: “In due course and depending on the occurrences, the Festival de Cannes will naturally take all the necessary measures aiming at ensuring the protection of all attendees and preserve their health during the event in Cannes, under the responsibility of public authorities, in particular the State and the City of Cannes. For now, the Cannes film Festival staff continues to prepare the event that will take place from May 12 to May 23, 2020.”
As of Friday morning, coronavirus has spread to 83,909 cases and 2,869 deaths worldwide.
“We are facing a crisis, an epidemic that is coming,” French president Emmanuel Macron said at the hospital site of the first French death from coronavirus, according to France 24. “We know that we’re only at the beginning… we’re going to try with all our caretakers to make the right decisions.”
The number of cases in France has jumped from 18 to 38 this week, including one in Cannes specifically.
The festival kicks off May 12.