Should Major Meetings/Conventions Be Cancelled Because Of The Covid-19?.....

[global1]

I'm reading where other countries are cancelling events because of the Covid-19. I'm wondering if the U.S. should consider doing the same.

Many of these meetings/conventions have vendors/exhibitors and attendees that come in from China and other countries where the virus is infecting and killing people.

Most certainly - attendees to these meetings/conventions come from all States in the U.S. and will go back to those States afterwards. If they come into contact with others that may have the virus - the spread would increase dramatically.

So I'm asking should the U.S. take more of a precautionary stance and postpone such meetings/conventions until we have more of a handle on dealing with Covid-19.

I have a major meeting coming up in Chicago that I attend every year. I went to the website of the organization hosting the meeting and they address the situation and are taking some precautions. They will not open the International Exhibits and are deferring to U.S. Customs policies to deal with foreign show attendees counting on them to not allow these attendees who have been in China within 14 days of the beginning of the show to attend the show.

They also indicated that hand sanitizing stations will be placed throughout venue and small hand sanitizer bottles will be given to attendees when they arrive.

I really don't know that this is enough to instill a warm feeling in the tummies of the attendees.

I'm not sure if it is definitively known how Covid-19 is spread yet. Are hand sanitizers enough?

What about the union workers that set up the show - how will they be protected?

Bottom line - even as I type this OP out I'm thinking my best decision is not to attend this year.

But the bigger question is shouldn't the U.S. be more proactive in the decision to even hold such large meetings when we have the threat of Covid-19 upon us?

I'm curious as to what others here may think about this.

[DonaldsRump]

1. Ordinarily, I would say no

But I just saw that some major tech conferences in the Bay Area are being cancelled or that major sponsors are pulling out.

I'm not one that's an expert in this, but let's just say that I am beginning to wonder what the coming months are going to do to conferences, travel etc. I've even seen something on CNN about how the virus is affecting athlete preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in late July-early August this year.

[lapfog_1]

2. they already are... or going virtual

Oracle World in SF is, I believe, cancelled.

The Versace show in Milan is now virtual (watch be internet).

I'm sure there will be many more cancellations.

[DonaldsRump]

3. I thought Oracle World was in Las Vegas this year

Probably because it's a lot cheaper.

Anyway, let's see and hope for the best.

[lapfog_1]

4. That's right...they moved it...

I'm thinking of a different big tech conference in SF.

[shanti]

5. What about the Olympics this year?

I can see 1980 happening again.

[Farmer-Rick]

6. Since people are not being tested, we really have no idea how much coronavirus is spreading

"It’s not clear when the new CDC test will be ready and distributed, but because of the test failure, only three out of 100 public-health labs in the U.S. have been able to test for COVID-19, according to the Association of Public Health Laboratories. In addition, the cost of each test is as much as $250, according to Politico, and the HHS has already been running out of money to pay for its response to the outbreak."

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/what-we-know-about-the-trump-admins-response-to-coronavirus.html

So, since we don't know how much of the disease has spread through what parts of the US....because we are out of money and can't test for it anyway, you can only guess at if cancellation is worth it. If we had it in 25 states or more, I would say yes, cancel. If we only have it in 4 to 10 states and the number of cases were dropping, then I would say it's safe. But when you are blind to the actual spread of the disease in your country, you can only guess at what is reasonable.

[Tanuki]

7. A small conference in Singapore led to widespread international dissemination of Covid19

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-asia-51480613

..."But when a virus comes to Singapore it won't just affect this city. It can and has spread through Singapore to other countries around the world.

The meeting that infected the world

This became painfully obvious when one meeting held in a luxury hotel in mid-January spawned several coronavirus cases around the world.

More than 100 people attended the sales conference, including some from China.

About a week after that meeting, stories of confirmed coronavirus cases began popping up all over the world - from South Korea to Malaysia, the UK and even Spain.

The first Malaysian to catch the virus was a 41-year-old man who had attended the conference along with colleagues from China.


Subsequently, his sister and mother-in-law caught it from him.


Then, South Korea confirmed two infected cases of South Korean nationals who had also attended the meeting.

Singapore reported three cases : two Singaporean nationals and a permanent resident.

British national and super-spreader Steve Walsh was also at the Singapore conference.

After his meetings in the tropical city-state he flew to a French ski resort for a holiday, on his way back home.

He is thought to have infected 11 others while he was there - people who eventually flew elsewhere - leading to five cases in England, five in France, and one in Majorca, Spain.

This one meeting demonstrates how Singapore became a super-conductor for the virus."...(more)