Coronavirus conference in New York canceled due to coronavirus
The cancellation of these events, while ironic, is nonetheless part of a growing trend of canceled or postponed conferences, confabs and gatherings throughout the United States.
By AARON REICHA swab to be used for testing novel coronavirus(photo credit: REUTERS/DAVID RYDER)
Many events and conferences have been canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak – including a conference about the novel coronavirus.A round table conference organized by the Council on Foreign Relations titled "Doing Business Under Coronavirus" was scheduled for Friday in New York before being forced to be cancel due to the contagion, Bloomberg reported.Other in-person round table conferences organized by the CFR were scheduled between March 11 and April 3, but all of them have been canceled as well. These include events throughout the US, not just in New York.The cancellation of these events, while ironic, is nonetheless part of a growing trend of canceled or postponed conferences, confabs and gatherings, which include the annual New York auto show. This trend affects the entire United States, with Bloomberg reporting that over 50 major corporate events with an estimated attendance of around a million people have been forced to cancel or postpone due to the coronavirus. This results in a lack of spending on conferences, which in the US has increased in recent years, with the total corporate expenditure on conferences totaling $327 million in 2018.However, New York has come under especially strict scrutiny due to the abundance of conferences held in the area and the rise in cases in the city and the surrounding suburbs, particularly Westchester County. At a press conference earlier, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he would be sending the National Guard into New Rochelle, a Westchester County city that is the epicenter of the state's outbreak, in order to close public gathering spaces and stem the spread of the virus.
