Coronavirus is spreading in the world at an unprecedented rate, claiming over 800 lives.
And this has resulted in the functioning of various businesses too, with them recommending their employees to not travel to and from China, amidst the fear of catching the novel coronavirus. However, now this fear has also reached the Mobile World Congress.
Various global brands have announced that they won't be participating in this year's MWC in Barcelona, Spain.
Smartphone maker LG, that is always present to showcase its first flagship of the year, (according to the leaks, the V60 ThinQ) announced that it won't be holding a conference at MWC this year.
Another shocking brand that decided to stay back was telecommunications equipment manufacturer Ericcson who is one of the leading makers for the hardware that goes into network towers that help us get data on our phones. They're also one of the biggest exhibitors at MWC every year so them stepping out is definitely a big jerk. This year could have been Ericsson's biggest showcase in better 5G connectivity -- something that the world is highly anticipating.
Another brand in the field, ZTE, decided to not be a part of MWC 2020.
E-commerce giant Amazon and GPU maker Nvidia is also staying behind this year.?
Even though the aforementioned brands aren't joining the massive convention, various brands are still going to be a part of it, and for people representing those brands, MWC organisers have laid out a strict set of rules and regulations that every visitor must follow to keep themselves as well as fellow visitors safe from getting infected?
1. All travellers from the Hubei province will not be permitted access to the event
2. All travellers who have been in China will need to demonstrate proof they have been outside of China 14 days prior to the event (passport stamp, health certificate).
3. Temperature screening will be implemented.
4. Attendees will need to self-certify they have not been in contact with anyone infected.
Today, Wuhan Coronavirus has surpassed SARS in the death toll (SARS had reported deaths of around 774 during 2002-2004) and it seems nowhere close to being in control.?
What's worse is the coronavirus has as of now infected over three times the number of people than SARS -- which infected only 8098 people between November 2002 and July 2003.