Hyderabad: As of March 8 (WHO report), the global number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 had already surpassed the 1,00,000 mark. With this, the novel coronavirus has become one of the deadliest virus outbreaks in the history of mankind.
Although the spread of COVID-19 (as officially named by the WHO) has slowed down in China due to consistent efforts at containment, countries across the globe are still at high risk of reporting more deaths.
Let us take a look at the basics of this novel Coronavirus:
novel Coronavirus: A large family of viruses causing severe respiratory diseases.
Nomenclature: COVID-19 (CO- Corona, VI- Virus, D- Disease, 19- 2018; the year it was first witnessed)
Origin: Hubei province of Wuhan, China.
Symptoms: Cough, fever, difficulty in breathing, liver infection, pneumonia, kidney failure.
With the number of deaths from the virus still on the rise, global efforts are currently focused on containing its spread.
People have lessened attending public gatherings while several major public events across the globe have also been cancelled.
Let us now take a look at the events across the world that have been affected by the novel Coronavirus:
International events:
Google News Initiative summit: Tech giant Google Inc called off its annual news conference to be held in Sunnyvale, California, in April. The event brings together several hundred media people.
Geneva International Auto Show: The 90th Geneva Motor Show that was set to begin next week has been cancelled. The event was called off after Switzerland cancelled all programmes comprising over 1,000 people in the country. The cancellation is said to bring in a loss of over 250 million Swiss francs (or $257 million) worth of business.
Facebook F8 developer conference: Every year, Facebook connects with global developer community at F8 event and shares its vision for the future. But given the growing concerns around COVID-19, the company cancelled 'the in-person component of F8, 2020', which was to be held San Francisco in May.
Mobile World Congress: The global telecom industry's biggest event, Mobile World Congress (MWC), was called off due to coronavirus outbreak. Scheduled between February 24 to 27, 2020, at Barcelona, the GSMA cancelled the event less than two weeks before kick-off. GSMA is the industry trade body representing over 1,000 companies across the mobile ecosystem, including mobile operators, handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors.
Global Health Conference: Many businesses and professional organizations postponed or canceled conferences, including the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, which had organized a global health conference scheduled to take place in Orlando, Florida.
World Bank and IMF spring meetings: The annual convening of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, will be held virtually instead of in person.
CERA Week energy conference: One of the largest gatherings of energy industry professionals, set to take place in Houston from March 9 to 13, has been cancelled.
ASEAN meeting: Reuters reports that US president Donald Trump postponed a meeting with leaders of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian nations planned for March 14 in Las Vegas.
Game Developers Conference: The largest annual gathering of game industry professionals, set to take place in San Francisco between March 16 and 20, was postponed. Many top gaming companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook’s Oculus, and Sony Interactive Entertainment, had already pulled out.
Global fashion weeks: Fashion weeks in Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo, set to take place mid- to late- March, were postponed due to coronavirus. Meanwhile, numerous Chinese fashion brands have pulled out of fashion weeks in Paris and Milan. The French luxury group LVMH canceled a cocktail reception and award ceremony set to take place during Paris Fashion Week.
Sports events:
Six Nations Rugby match: Philip Browne, chief executive of the Irish Rugby Football Union, postponed two Six Nations rugby matches between Ireland and Italy set to take place in Dublin between March 6 and 8.
Series A matches: Six soccer matches set to take place in Italy were postponed after the country restricted outdoor sporting events in the northern regions of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna.
BNP Paribas Open: The Indian Wells Tennis Tournament, a major tennis tournament that was scheduled to take place in Indian Wells, Calif., beginning this week, was canceled after local health officials declared a public health emergency in the Coachella Valley because of a confirmed case of the coronavirus.
Grand Prix: Formula One has said that its upcoming Grand Prix in Bahrain will be closed to spectators, while the Chinese Grand Prix, which had been scheduled to take place from April 17 to 19, has been postponed.
FIFA Worldcup: FIFA has announced that it would postpone the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Tokyo Olympics: The biggest question in the sports world is the Tokyo Olympics, set to begin in July. Japan and the International Olympic Committee have said the Games will go on, but there have been discussions about a worst-case scenario: holding competitions without spectators.
Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League have limited locker room access to only players and essential team staff members.
Cultural events:
Religious events
Religious pilgrimages in Saudi Arabia: The Saudi government announced it is temporarily banning foreign pilgrims from entering the country, which is home to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
Church gatherings in Italy: Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy announced that public gatherings were banned and people would be allowed to travel only for work or for emergencies. Even church services are prohibited.
St Patrick's Day parades: Ireland’s government canceled all St. Patrick’s Day parades, including Dublin’s. Boston, a haven of Irish- Americans, canceled its parade, too.
Festivals
Japan’s Azalea Festival: The annual azalea festival of the village of Higashi, which usually takes place in March, was canceled.
South by Southwest festival: Austin, Texas, cancelled the 34th annual South by Southwest festival after tech companies, including Apple, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, withdrew their participation. The music, tech and film festival was to run from March 13 to 22, with events planned throughout bars and party spaces across Austin, and at a convention center.
Southern California’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival: The festival was still on track to begin on April 10. But a petition calling for its cancellation had recently gathered nearly 15,000 signatures.
Ultra Music Festival: The Ultra Music Festival in Miami has been postponed until next year.
Tucson Festival of Books: The festival, which was planned for March 14 and 15, was also canceled. The book festival is one of the biggest in the country and usually draws over 100,000 people to Tucson, Ariz.
Carnivals and fairs
London Book Fair: A large gathering of professionals from the book publishing industry set to take place between March 10 and 12 was cancelled.
European carnivals: The mayor of Nice, a city in southern France, canceled the last day of carnival because of coronavirus. Venice, Italy, too, canceled its carnival, one of the most popular in the world. Authorities said there were three confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Venice.
Tours
Stormzy and Green Day’s Asia tours: British rapper Stormzy postponed concerts in Japan, China, and South Korea as part of his world tour. Green Day postponed concerts in Thailand, the Philippines, South Korea, and Japan.
BTS concerts in South Korea: The Korean boy band canceled four concerts set to take place in Seoul between April 11 and 19 as part of a worldwide tour.
Movies
Latest James Bond: The release of No Time to Die, which was set for April, has been postponed to November.
Movie Theatres in China: China has closed most of its movie theaters, shutting off its $9 billion annual market, second only to North America's.
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