The Met Gala has become the latest major cultural event to be cancelled due to increasing public health concerns over the spread of Covid-19. The news comes after the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced on 12 March that it would be temporarily closing its doors after two of its employees tested positive for the virus. Currently, the gallery is tentatively slated to reopen to the public on 4 April.

“Due to the unavoidable and responsible decision by the Metropolitan Museum to close its doors, About Time, and the opening night gala, will not take place on the date scheduled,” American Vogue editor-in-chief and Condé Nast’s global content advisor Anna Wintour revealed in a statement on Vogue.com. “In the meantime, we will give you a preview of this extraordinary exhibition in our forthcoming May issue.”

It has yet to be disclosed whether this year’s Met Gala has been cancelled entirely or simply postponed. The Costume Institute’s decision is in accordance with New York governor Andrew Guomo’s ban on all gatherings of more than 500 people throughout the state, as well as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s advice that all avoidable gatherings of more than 50 people should be put off for the next eight weeks at least.

This year’s Met Gala was due to be particularly spectacular, with a theme described as time itself by curator Andrew Bolton – a nod to the fact that 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Metropolitan Museum as an institution. The event was due to be co-chaired by Nicolas Ghesquière, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, and Anna Wintour – who has hosted the so-called Super Bowl of fashion since 1995.

Previously published on British Vogue