THE OFFSPRING has canceled its previously announced Canadian tour with SIMPLE PLAN. The 21-date trek was scheduled to kick off on January 27 in Moncton and conclude on March 3 in Vancouver. Earlier today, THE OFFSPRING released the following statement: "To our friends in the Great White North: "We're bummed to be sharing this update, but after much consideration we've made the difficult decision to cancel the Canadian leg of the LET THE BAD TIMES ROLL TOUR with @simpleplan. "There's no point in us asking you to come out and see our kick-ass show if there’s a chance that everything could shut down at the last minute. We're disappointed, but let's get through this mess together. You stay home and we’ll stay home, we'll give you your money back and then wait for a better R naught number. "We're working hard to find a new time frame and we’ll be back to rock with you guys as soon as we can. "Refunds for ticket purchasers will be processed automatically. Keep an eye out for more info from your point of purchase." THE OFFSPRING also shared a three-minute video (see below) in which singer Bryan "Dexter" Holland, who has a Ph.D. in molecular biology and wrote his thesis on microRNA in HIV genomes, explains the science behind the band's decision to scrap the tour. Specifically, he discusses the R-naught or R0 value, which indicates the number of people an infected person can spread the disease to. A pandemic is considered to end if this value goes below 1. Although there is no reliable estimate right now for the R-naught value for the omicron variant, figures for other variants vary, but it is estimated at roughly six for delta. Holland's 175-page research paper, titled "Identification of Human MicroRNA-Like Sequences Embedded within the Protein-Encoding Genes of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus", had been published in PLoS One. He had received his Ph.D. from University of Southern California in 2017. In October, THE OFFSPRING canceled its concerts in Denver and Salt Lake City after guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman tested positive for COVID-19. Two months earlier, longtime THE OFFSPRING drummer Pete Parada announced that was being dropped from the band's touring lineup after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine for medical reasons. Pete said a doctor had advised him not to get the shot because he has a rare autoimmune disorder. The musician said he first experienced Guillain-Barré syndrome, where a person's immune system damages their nerves, in childhood and the effects had got "progressively worse over my lifetime". He also revealed that he contracted COVID-19 over a year earlier and only had mild symptoms, "so I am confident I'd be able to handle it again", he wrote. It is not clear if Parada, who joined the group in 2007, has now left THE OFFSPRING permanently.
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