The Council on Foreign Relations has canceled a scheduled conference because of coronavirus.
The title of the conference: “Doing Business Under Coronavirus.”
The roundtable scheduled for Friday in New York City was canceled because the organizers were afraid attendees might catch or spread the coronavirus. The Council also called off other in-person conferences that were scheduled from March 3 to April 3, including those New York and Washington and national events around the U.S., Bloomberg News reported.
A slew of events in New York City, which has more than 8 million people, have been canceled, including the New York International Auto Show.
As the coronavirus spreads in the U.S. — the number of confirmed cases doubled from Friday to Monday and doubled again by Wednesday — events across the country are being canceled, which will bring an enormous economic cost.
“The spread of the virus across the U.S. has already caused the scuttling of more than 50 major corporate events with an estimated attendance of 940,000 people, according to data collected by Bloomberg News,” the news agency reported. “Much of the economic impact is obvious. Those attendees aren’t flying, staying in hotels, ordering Ubers and racking up bar tabs on the corporate Amex. In the U.S., spending on business trips rose to $327 billion in 2018 — up 22% from five years earlier — in accounting for about 40% of all expenditures, according to the U.S. Travel Association.”
For instance, South by Southwest (SXSW), the massive week-long party in Austin, Texas, that draws thousands to its tech, film, and music conference, has also been canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. The 10-day event last year drew 300,000 people.
“We are devastated to share this news with you. ‘The show must go on’ is in our DNA, and this is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place. We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation,” event organizers said in a statement.
The organizers of Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals announced on Tuesday that the mega-events will be postponed until October.
In fact, so many events are being canceled that a new website was created to keep track — isitcanceledyet.com.
Google has canceled its I/O developer event this year, set for May 12-14. “Due to concerns around the coronavirus (COVID-19), and in accordance with health guidance from the CDC, WHO, and other health authorities, we have decided to cancel the physical Google I/O event at Shoreline Amphitheatre,” a Google spokesman told The Verge.
This year’s annual Game Developers Conference, set to take place from March 16-20 in San Francisco, has also been postponed over coronavirus fears.
The coronavirus fear has spread to the political world.
Sen. Bernie Sanders has canceled his evening rally in Cleveland on Wednesday “out of concern for public health and safety,” his campaign said. Former Vice President Joe Biden did so, too, “in accordance with guidance from public officials and out of an abundance of caution,” according to a tweet from Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager.
“We will continue to consult with public health officials and public health guidance and make announcements about future events in the coming days,” Bedingfield said. “Vice President Biden thanks all of his supporters who wanted to be with us in Cleveland.”
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