Amazon has joined a number of big exhibitors that have already pulled out of the world’s largest mobile trade show MWC, including LG, Ericsson and Nvidia, citing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus.
After some biggest companies canceled their plans for the Mobile World Congress (MWC), Amazon joined this infamous list. Congress is planned to take part later this month in Barcelona. However, a lot of companies as are LG, NVIDIA and Ericsson decided not to attend because of coronavirus-related concerns.
In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said:
“Due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020, scheduled for Feb. 24-27 in Barcelona, Spain.”
Be it as it may, the event’s organizer, GSMA, was forced to issue a new statement about measures it is taking, including a ban on visitors from Hubei province, where the epidemic is believed to have begun.
Still 2,800 MWC Exhibitors Confirmed
The statement says:
“Today, the GSMA is moving ahead as planned and will host MWC Barcelona 24-27 February 2020. While the GSMA confirm some large exhibitors have decided not to come to the show this year with others still contemplating next steps, we remain more than 2,800 exhibitors strong.”
The latest information on the virus shows that in China’s Hubei province 91 people died in the area from the coronavirus, bringing the worldwide death toll from the outbreak that started in Wuhan to over 900.
Health officials also confirmed an additional 2,168 cases of the deadly virus for a total number of 29,631 infected people in the country.
More Deaths than It Was in SARS Case
Over the weekend the death toll from the Wuhan coronavirus surpassed that of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus, which claimed the lives of 774 when it broke out in 2003, also in China.
However, on Monday the National Health Commission (NHC) in Beijing announced the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) recovery rate is making significant progress across China, especially in Wuhan, the center of China’s Hubei Province.
The spokesperson of the NHC Mi Feng said the recovery rate achieved 8.2% on Monday, a big jump from 1.3% that was recorded on January 27. Speaking to the press at the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council held in Beijing today, Mi Feng stated that the rising recovery rate is primarily the result of the strict medical treatment measures that have been carried on all around China.
Is It Smarter to Delay?
According to the rate figures, the Hubei Province saw a significant improvement to 6.1% on Monday from 1.7% on January 27, while in Wuhan, the focal point of the coronavirus, where statistics recorded a rise to 6.2% on Monday compared to 2.6% on January 27.
There are two weeks before the conference starts. However, the rapid pace the virus is spreading is raising questions on whether the meeting should be delayed. There are still major names left but the question is – until when. There’s definitely a bigger temptation for them to pull out, both because of the coronavirus and the absence of possible business partners and, now non-existent networking.
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