The Met Gala has added itself to the long list of glitzy events that have been postponed or cancelled to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus. The last time the star-studded gala got cancelled was 22 years ago, in 2002, after the 9/11 attacks.

Met Gala, the annual fashion party in New York, which benefits the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, will not take place as scheduled on Monday, May 4. The announcement comes just days after the museum closed its door until further notice after two staffers were reported to have flu-like symptoms, which are associated with COVID-19.

Anna Wintour, Vogue editor-in-chief and co-chair of the gala who has been organising the event since 1995, announced the news in a statement in Vogue on Monday. "Due to the unavoidable and responsible decision by the Metropolitan Museum to close its doors, About Time, and the opening night gala, will be postponed to a later date," the 70-year-old wrote.

The Metropolitan Museum had announced on Thursday that its museums- The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer and The Met Cloisters, would be closed temporarily starting Friday "to support New York City's efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19."

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⁣ We will be closing all three locations—The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters—temporarily starting tomorrow, March 13, to support New York City’s effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. The Museum will undertake a thorough cleaning and plans to announce next steps early next week.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ “While we don’t have any confirmed cases connected to the Museum, we believe that we must do all that we can to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our community, which at this time calls for us to minimize gatherings while maintaining the cleanest environment possible. We look forward to soon announcing when we’ll be able to welcome our staff and visitors back to the Museum.”⁣⁣ —Dan Weiss, President and CEO⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ For more information on Museum response, policies, and event cancellations, visit the link in our bio.

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It also comes just days after the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended all gatherings with more than 50 people be cancelled or delayed for the next eight weeks.

This year's event themed on "About Time: Fashion and Duration," was due to be hosted by Emma Stone, Meryl Streep, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Louis Vuitton's creative director Nicolas Ghesquière. The exhibit was going to be held to explore "how clothes generate temporal associations that conflate the past, present, and future" from 1870 to the present.

The tickets for the fashion event were priced at $35,000 and tables started at $200,000. The theme for the last year's gala was "Camp: Notes on Fashion," which recognised Lady Gaga, Cardi B and Katy Perry as the best-dressed stars of the ball.

Met Gala 2017
Katy Perry at the Met Gala 2017 Reuters

Apart from Met Gala, several other fashion shows including Gucci's San Francisco Cruise show and Armani's Dubai fashion show, have also been cancelled or postponed. Music festivals including Coachella, Stagecoach, France's Tomorrowland Music Festival, and Miami's Ultra Music Festival have also been postponed in wake of the respiratory disease.