Steve Martin seems to have been bitten by the latest COVID-19 variant. The comedian and “Only Murders in the Building” star announced Wednesday night that he’s postponing two Las Vegas shows scheduled for this weekend due to an outbreak of the illness.
“Dear fans and enemies, unfortunately, our sold-out shows at the Wynn in Las Vegas this Friday and Saturday has to be postponed because of rampant COVID in our crew and one other essential guy. We are sorry for any inconvenience, but we are moving to mid-December, where your tickets will be honored with an added ‘date-moving tax,’ of nine thousand dollars,” Martin wrote on X.
The beloved comedian is far from the only person to catch the COVID of late. Late night hosts were forced to cancel their own “Strike Force Five” Las Vegas shows after Jimmy Kimmel tested positive on Wednesday.
America has been hit by an uptick in cases that have sent 20,000 people to the hospital over the last week. That’s he highest rate since the omicron wave. But to put that in perspective, that’s far below that particularly strong variant, which at its peak sent 150,674 people to the hospital in one week.
In response to the increase in COVID cases, the Biden administration has revived the program that provides free tests to people through the postal system.
Meanwhile, fans bummed about having to wait for Martin’s Vegas gigs can at least see him in new episodes of “Only Murders in the Building,” currently streaming on Hulu.
