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This weekend’s Bonita Blues Festival, a popular two-day concert in downtown Bonita Springs, is canceled due to concern about the risk of spreading COVID-19, the disease caused by the novelcoronavirus.

The Bonita Springs City Council decided to halt the event during an emergency meeting Friday morning, said Councilor Mike Gibson, the city’s vice mayor. The meeting was advertised on the city’s website Thursday evening, he said.

All approved special permits for events that were scheduled to happen within the next 30 days have also are canceled or postponed, Gibson said.

“Out of an abundance of caution, any special events permits that were given are being revoked for the next 30 days,” he said. “We can’t take the chance of an infected person passing (the coronavirus) on to other people.”

The Blues Fest is a fundraising event that has raised thousands of dollars to local charities for more than a decade. It is not organized by the city.

The event was set to begin Friday at 1 p.m. and finish Saturday evening.

City sponsored events, including Celebrate Bonita set for March 28 and the weekly Movies in the Park, are also postponed or canceled, Gibson said.

The upcoming City Council meeting scheduled for Wednesday, March 18, also is canceled.

“We just can’t take the risk of the possibility of the community spreading the virus,” Gibson said.

The City Council is following a directive from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said any gathering of over 1,000 people should be canceled.

Thaddeus Mast is a south Lee County reporter for the Naples Daily News and The Banner. Support his work by subscribing to our local news organization. Find him on Twitter as @thaddeusmast.

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