COVID Cases Jumped 139% Following Coachella Music Festival in Riverside, California

Julie Mazziotta
·2 min read
7
Anitta performs onstage at the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 22, 2022 in Indio, California.
Anitta performs onstage at the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 22, 2022 in Indio, California.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

COVID-19 cases have jumped up 139% in the last two weeks in Riverside County, California, after hosting the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for two weekends.

Riverside County, which is home to Indio, the location of the annual festival, has seen cases increase by 139% in the last 14 days for an average of 202 new cases a day, according to data compiled by The New York Times.

The weekly report from the Palm Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant also shows that the concentration of COVID-19 in wastewater samples have jumped up in the last week, going from an average of 360,433 copies to 617,875. The plant called it a "significant jump." The majority of cases are caused by the omicron variant.

Hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19 have remained low, with hospitalizations going up by just 3% in the last two weeks and an average of 0.7 people dying from the virus a day in Riverside.

Coachella attracted an estimated 750,000 people to the California desert for the festival, which took place over two weekends; April 15 to 17 and April 22 to 24. This was the first year back after the 2020 and 2021 festivals were canceled due to the pandemic.

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The festival is held outside, but did not require proof of vaccination, testing or masks for attendees. And throughout the two weekends, many brands like Revolve and Spotify hold their own parties at homes and venues in the area.

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On the Coachella site, the festival's parent company, Goldenvoice, warned that attendees could contract COVID-19.

"There is an inherent and elevated risk of exposure to COVID-19 in any public place or place where people are present and there is no guarantee, express or implied, that those attending the festival will not be exposed to COVID-19," they said.

PEOPLE has reached out to Goldenvoice for comment.

The Stagecoach country music festival brought around 80,000 people to Riverside again this past weekend, and had also dropped all COVID safety precautions.

As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from the CDC, WHO and local public health departments.