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The Democratic National Committee said Thursday it was postponing the party’s convention from mid July to the week of Aug. 17 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The party said in a statement that the future was uncertain as the virus continues to spread, and that the party would follow the advice of health care professionals.

“In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds so we can best position our party for a safe and successful convention,” Joe Solmonese, CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee, said in a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“During this critical time, when the scope and scale of the pandemic and its impact remain unknown, we will continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice of health care professionals and emergency responders.”

The convention was scheduled for July 13-16 in Milwaukee at an arena used by the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, which applauded the move.

“This is the right decision for the safety of those involved in the convention and for Milwaukee,” Alex Lasry, a Bucks senior official who led the city’s convention bid,” told The New York Times.

“An August convention will provide a much-needed economic boost for Milwaukee and Wisconsin as we come out of this unprecedented time.”

The move came hours after Joe Biden said he thinks his party’s nominating convention will have to be pushed back into August because of the coronavirus.

“It’s going to depend on what kind of action is taken between now and the middle of the summer to change this curve,” Biden said in a Wednesday interview with NBC late-night comedian Jimmy Fallon.

“I doubt whether the Democratic convention is going to be able to be held in early July, mid-July. I think it’s going to have move into August. … You just have to be prepared for the alternative, and the alternative — we don’t know what it’s going to be.”

Democrats hope that by postponing the convention they will be able to ensure greater attendance, as the virus could have reached an apex before then, meaning travel and other restrictions could be eased.

Republicans, meanwhile, are expressing confidence they can pull off their convention as scheduled on Aug. 24-27 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

President Trump said last week that there was “no way” the GOP convention would be canceled.

Party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said that planning for the convention was moving “full steam ahead.”