BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 1
Trend:
Coronavirus outbreak, which firstly occurred in China, is now rapidly spreading all over the world, considerably changing the schedule of mass events, Trend reports.
Coronavirus is airborne and can spread rapidly. Doctors strongly advise to avoid crowded places so that to prevent infection.
On February 29, France announced the cancellation of all public events. The decision was made after an emergency meeting at the Champs Elysees attended by President Emmanuel Macron.
Among the large events cancelled in France is the Paris half marathon, an exhibition of real estate investments in Cannes, a carnival in Annecy and an agricultural exhibition in Paris.
Switzerland also took a similar step. All major events have been canceled there. The most significant of them is the Geneva auto show.
Moreover, the world's largest tourism exhibition in Berlin, Germany has been canceled. The organizers of the world's largest travel fair ITB decided to cancell it due to the aggravation of the situation with the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus in Germany. This was announced by the official representative of ITB on February 28.
The fair was scheduled for March 4-8
in Berlin.
Organizers of a number of cultural events in Italy, such as presentations of books and exhibitions, press conferences and premieres are cancelled or rescheduled due to the spread of coronavirus.
All theaters, including La Scala in Milan and La Fenice in Venice, as well as museums, libraries, galleries are closed in Lombardy and Veneto, where the coronavirus has been detected. Moreover, the largest attractions are closed in Liguria.
People are not allowed to visit the Aquarium of Genoa and the Palazzo Ducale, which is the central exhibition hall of the city. Similar situation is observed in Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige.
The Ministry of Culture has canceled the “Free Museum on Sundays” campaign, which takes place in all state museums on the first Sunday of the month. Free visits to museums, archaeological parks and other attractions were suspended on March 1.
In accordance with the order of the Ministry of Health and by decision of the Council of Ministers, all school excursion programs are suspended. Presentation of two movies has been cancelled due to the closure of cinemas in several regions.
Spain has cancelled Mobile World Congress, which is one of the most popular exhibitions of mobile technologies. The exhibition organizers said that the event will have to be canceled due to concerns about the safety of visitors.
As for Georgia, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University has postponed the start of the spring semester from March 2 to March 16, taking into account the recommendations of the Ministry of Education. Spring break will start a week earlier, on March 2 in Georgian public schools due to the coronavirus threat.
The educational process will also be suspended in kindergartens for two weeks. During this time, educational institutions will have to carry out disinfection. The Ministry of Education of Georgia has made similar recommendations to private schools. Universities and vocational schools were advised to postpone the beginning of the spring semester.
Sports events have been canceled in South Korea. The short track world championship, which was supposed to be held on March 13-15, will not be held due to the threat of mass infection. Concerts and festivals are also cancelled in the country. The BTS group, whose members are now on a world tour, wants cancel a big concert in Seoul.
Mass events have been canceled in Japan, and most schools will be closed from Monday. The traditional viewing of sakura will not be held in Tokyo and Osaka.
Disneyland and other amusement parks are closed from Saturday until mid-March. A state of emergency has been declared on the northernmost island of Hokkaido.
The mayors of several Polish cities have also canceled all public events organized by local authorities.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) are expected to hold discussions to reschedule the annual spring meeting due to coronavirus. The joint meeting was scheduled for April 13-19 in Washington.