Coronavirus isn’t stopping the grand MWC event, which is set to be held from 24-27 February this year. The organiser, GSMA has announced its plans of hosting the event anyway despite the novel coronavirus disrupting the world. Yesterday, it outlined its precautionary measures for all the attendees to safeguard them from any unlikely virus spread.
Preventive Precautions
Mobile World Congress (MWC) is a big event for smartphone launches. Many OEMs will be showcasing their grand flagships, new technologies, developments and even prototypes. As this event is a sure go for many tech enthusiasts, disruptive Coronavirus turned out to be a hindrance for everyone. This led the host GSMA to set up safety measures at the place and for attendees as below:
- All travellers from the Hubei province will not be permitted access to the event
- 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)
- Temperature screening will be implemented
- Attendees will need to self-certify they have not been in contact with anyone infected.
Further, supporting this event are the government representatives of Catalonia, claiming their health systems are ready to detect, prevent and to treat the infected ones. Also adhering to WHO suggestions, GSMA has made these following setup to control any mishaps;
- No-handshake policy
- Doubling the on-site medical support and increase of cleaning and disinfecting programs at high-volume touchpoints.
- Installing the sanitising and disinfecting materials where ever required.
- Awareness and training for staff and installing them at required places to assist attendees across the event.
- 24-hour telephone security and medical service for all from 12-29th February.
Dropouts
Even before crafting these safety measures by GSMA, LG Electronics announced it would not be attending the event. Further, Ericsson to has cancelled its plans citing coronavirus. There are rumours of ZTE pulling out too, but the maker clarified only the press conference was cancelled and it will attend the event to showcase its 5G technologies, anyway.
Besides these, online retail giant Amazon to has announced its pass over plans. While this may not be affecting that much, fans lost hope when Nvidia cancelled its plans too! Though GSMA assured the virus having minimal impact on its event, we’ll see who else could be joining the dropout list.
