4/20/22, 11:48 AM Covid News: Coachella Festival To Return Without Mask or Vaccine Requirements - The New York Times

Covid News: Coachella Festival To Return Without Mask or Vaccine Requirements

A study suggests vaccination during pregnancy protects infants from hospitalization for severe Covid. Tyson Foods will ease mask
rules at some meat processing plants as some U.S. states are ending mask mandates.

Published Feb. 15, 2022 Updated March 30, 2022

Here’s what you need to know:

Coachella plans to return with no masks or vaccines required.

Vaccination during pregnancy protects infants from being hospitalized for Covid, a new study suggests.

China’s leader urges Hong Kong to curb outbreak ‘as soon as possible.’

Disney World and Disneyland will ease mask mandates for vaccinated patrons.

Tyson Foods will ease its mask rules at ‘some’ meat processing plants.

Djokovic says missing Grand Slam events is a ‘price that I’m willing to pay’ to avoid vaccination.

The Biden administration floats a request for additional pandemic aid.

The Senate confirms Califf as the F.D.A.’s commissioner in a tight vote.

Coachella plans to return with no masks or vaccines required.

Concertgoers were sprayed with water at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., in 2018. Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

When the Coachella outdoor music festival returns for the first time in two years this April, performers will be greeted by a sea of
unmasked — and potentially unvaccinated — fans as the struggling concert industry stirs back to life.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/15/world/covid-19-tests-cases-vaccine 1/16
4/20/22, 11:48 AM Covid News: Coachella Festival To Return Without Mask or Vaccine Requirements - The New York Times

Organizers said on Tuesday that attendees would not be required to wear masks or be vaccinated or tested for the coronavirus at the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which drew up to 125,000 fans a day to Southern California and was one of the biggest music
festivals of the pre-pandemic era.

“There is no guarantee, express or implied, that those attending the festival will not be exposed to Covid-19,” Goldenvoice, a division of
the global concert giant AEG Live, said on the Coachella website.

Goldenvoice noted, however, that the festival’s Covid policies may change “in accordance with applicable public health conditions.”

Goldenvoice also said on Tuesday that Stagecoach, a country music festival in Southern California, would have no requirements for
guests to be masked, vaccinated or tested. The festival was set to run for three days in late April and early May.

It has been a turbulent two years for the concert and touring industries as a number of events were canceled because of the
coronavirus. In the last year, since Covid vaccines became widely available, organizers have grappled with decisions over whether to
hold the events at all and whether to require masks, vaccines and testing.

Over four days last summer, the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago ran at full capacity, with its 400,000 attendees being required
to show either proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test. According to data released by the city after the festival, infection rates
among the concertgoers were low.

Coachella did not run in 2020 or 2021, and was canceled three times over the pandemic, including a rescheduled date in the fall of 2020.

Before the pandemic, Coachella, which is widely seen as a bellwether for the multibillion-dollar touring business, had put on a show
every year since 1999 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. It typically runs over two weekends in April.

The organizers of Coachella announced in January, after weeks of speculation, that the festival would be back this year. It is set to be
headlined by Billie Eilish, Harry Styles and Kanye West.

— Alyssa Lukpat

Vaccination during pregnancy protects infants from being hospitalized for Covid, a new study
suggests.

Vaccination against the coronavirus during pregnancy helps protect infants from Covid-19, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Kriston Jae Bethel for The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/15/world/covid-19-tests-cases-vaccine 2/16