GRANTSVILLE, Utah (AP) - Tooele County has issued an order to close a local amphitheater in northern Utah, blocking a planned concert sponsored by activists opposed to coronavirus-related restrictions.
The Tooele County Board of Health, the County Commission and the county health officer all issued a closure order Wednesday to the Amphitheater at Studio Ranch owner Jason Manning, who was scheduled to host the concert.
The planned concert violates Republican Gov. Gary Herbert’s guidelines prohibiting mass gatherings to combat the spread of COVID-19.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
“(The order) was expected,” Manning said. “I guess they don’t respect the Constitution.”
The order grants a temporary restraining order to the county against the venue to restrict it from hosting the concert on that day.
Manning declined comment Wednesday on whether or not he would still host the concert.
Concert organizer Eric Moutsos said in a Facebook post Wednesday that the concert is still on Saturday at the amphitheater near Grantsville, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southwest of Salt Lake City.
Masks were being donated, and medical, security, and hand-washing and hand sanitizing stations were planned, Moutsos said, adding that about 100 businesses have confirmed plans to have booths at the concert to help and highlight companies shuttered amid the pandemic.
“If you would have said this four months ago, listening to country music, trying to save businesses was going to be the most radical thing in the country, or at least in the state of Utah, nobody would have believed it. But here we are,” Moutsos said.
Manning could face criminal charges under state law if the concert proceeds, Tooele County Health Department spokeswoman Amy Bate said.
The concert was originally going to be held in Kaysville until residents and the city council pushed back, arguing they didn’t feel like the community’s best interests were being considered when Mayor Katie Witt made the decision to allow it.
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