A surge of coronavirus cases in New York has forced the postponement of another signature event, the Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show.
The show announced Wednesday it has postponed its 146th annual event to have been contested in late January. The announcement didn’t give a new date for the show but said it would be later in 2022.
The dog show normally is held in February at Madison Square Garden but was moved to June last year and held at the Lyndhurst estate in suburban Tarrytown. Spectators weren’t allowed, and human participants had to be vaccinated or newly tested.
The announcement came the same day new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. soared to their highest level on record, at over 265,000 per day on average.
The fast-spreading omicron variant has cast a pall over Christmas and New Year’s, forcing communities to scale back or call off their festivities just weeks after it seemed as if Americans were about to enjoy an almost normal holiday season.