Coronavirus: Outbreak Scare Stalls Mega Events Worldwide
The coronavirus outbreak has resulted in the cancellation of sporting, tech and political events.
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Video editor: Vivek Gupta
The coronavirus outbreak has forced multiple global events to be cancelled or postponed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has postponed his visit to Brussels. PM Modi was to take part in India-European Union Summit aimed at strengthening strategic partnership.
Global tech giants like Google, Facebook and Microsoft have also been affected. Google called off its biggest annual event, Google I/O, which was slated to take place in May.
Facebook cancelled F8, its annual conference for developers. The conference was scheduled to take place in May at San Francisco.
The coronavirus outbreak forced Microsoft to call off its ‘IoT in Action’ conference. The event was to be held in Melbourne on Thursday, 5 March.
The world’s biggest phone event, Mobile World Congress, also got cancelled. Global System For Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) announced the cancellation of the exhibition, which was to be organised in Barcelona, Spain, with major mobile manufacturing companies pulling out of MWC 2020.
Coronavirus scare gripped the auto industry as well, with 2020 Geneva Moto getting cancelled. The motor show, originally slated to be held in Geneva was called off. Auto makers decided to release the photos and videos of vehicles online.
Many global sporting events were also affected. 2020 Qatar MotoGP, scheduled between 6-8 March, has been stalled. However, Moto2 and Moto3 races will continue as per their schedule.
India Women’s hockey team was scheduled to travel to China from 14 to 25 March. This tour was also called off because of the coronavirus scare. Meanwhile, US LGPA announced cancellation of Women’s Golf World Championship which was to be organised in Singapore. Football events were also cancelled. Italian Cup semi-finals, Juventus vs AC Milan and Napoli vs Inter Milan have been postponed.
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