The Coronavirus outbreak is quickly becoming a global pandemic. More than 60 countries around the world have reported cases of the virus and over 3,000 people have succumbed to the respiratory disease.
As concerns and fears over the spread of Coronavirus grow, a number of businesses, cultural and sporting events around the world have been either postponed or called off.
On Tuesday, (03.03.2020) it was reported that around 5,000 Twitter employees from across the globe had been advised to work from home amid the growing concerns on Coronavirus.
It was also recently reported that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who was scheduled to launch the tech chapter of SXSW on March 15th 2020, no longer plans to attend. Twitter announced Sunday it was “suspending all non-critical business travel events,” including Dorsey’s SXSW speech.
South by Southwest, the preeminent film, music and media conference that takes place every spring in Austin, USA has so far resisted calls to cancel. Some 17,000 people so far have signed a petition for the event to be called off.
With that said, here are some more global events and places that have been affected.
1.The Louvre Museum closed
Workers at the Louvre in Paris, France, the world’s most visited museum, voted to keep it closed Monday (02.03.2020) for the second day running, until management presents a clearer plan of how it’s dealing with the virus threat, according to a report by the Associated Press.
The French government recently banned any indoor gatherings larger than 5,000 people to prevent the spread of the virus. The Louvre has about 250 workers and the museum welcomes 9.6 million visitors last year.
2. Artists cancel their concerts in Asia
K-pop group BTS, one of the most popular boy bands in the world cancelled April tour dates in Seoul over concerns about the coronavirus, according to The Sauce.
Instead of starting its world tour in Seoul, the band will hold its first show in Santa Clara, California, later in April. Fellow singers Taeyeon and NCT also dropped planned shows for Singapore.
American pop-punk band Green Day postponed show dates in Asia “due to the health + travel concerns with coronavirus,” the group said on Twitter.
British rapper Stormzy postponed concerts in Japan, China, and South Korea as part of his world tour, The Sauce reported.
R&B singer Khalid cancelled his tour dates for Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Seoul, Mumbai and Bangalore.
3. Mission Impossible production cancelled
‘Mission: Impossible 7’ production has been halted in Italy because of the coronavirus outbreak, The Sauce reported.
More than 220 people in the country have been infected with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the Coronavirus, seven of which have died. As a result, Paramount Pictures have stopped the Tom Cruise-led movie’s production in Venice.
4. Amazing race production temporarily cancelled
CBS has temporarily shut down production of Season 33 of “The Amazing Race” amid the increasing number of cases of coronavirus worldwide. The move was undertaken “out of an abundance of caution,” as the respiratory virus has not impacted anyone directly involved with the show, Variety reported.
The 33rd season of the global unscripted competition series which had not yet been announced was only a couple of weeks into production. Three episodes had been filmed thus far and the contestants had visited England and Scotland prior to the suspension of the production. No new production start date for Season 33 has been determined.
5. Mobile World Congress
The MWC, the world’s largest technology trade show, typically attracts some 100,000 people from around the world to Barcelona every February.
The conference organizers called off this year’s event after high-profile attendees including Facebook and LG pulled out. The show has been an annual event since 2006.
6. Facebook cancels its global marketing summit
Social media giant Facebook went ahead to cancel its global marketing summit scheduled for March in San Francisco,USA due to coronavirus-related risks.
The event, scheduled for March 9 to March 12 was expected to see over 4,000 participants.
The tech giant also cancelled its annual F8 developers’ conference, which was scheduled to take place in May in California.
7. Google News Initiative summit
Google recently called off its annual news conference, which would have brought together several hundred media-industry attendees in Sunnyvale, California, in late April 2020.
8. Disney in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo closed
The Tokyo Disney resort said this week it would close until March 15 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Disney theme parks in Shanghai have been closed since January 24 and Hong Kong Disney attractions since January 25.
9. Chinese Grandprix postponed
The Formula One Chinese Grand Prix, scheduled for April 19, has been postponed, with no new date set. Motorcycle Grand Prix cancelled its first two races of the season, in Qatar and Thailand.
There’s speculation that the Vietnam Grand Prix will not go on as scheduled on April 5th 2020.
10. HongKong Sevens postponed
As reported by The Sauce in February, the Hong Kong and Singapore events in the Rugby sevens series have been pushed back to October 2020.
The Hong Kong Sevens was slated for April 3 to 5, with Singapore a week later. Both cities are scrambling to deal with the virus. The Singapore tournament will now take place on October 10-11 and Hong Kong a week later on October 16-18, concluding this year’s 10-stop world series.
11. World Indoor Championships postponed
The World Athletics has postponed the 2020 World Indoor Championships that were scheduled for Nanjing, China due to the Coronavirus that has hit the country, The Sauce reported.
The biannual event that was slated for March 13-15, 2020 will now be held March 2021.
As more and more golfing and football tournaments get cancelled or postponed, there are no plans to cancel the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which are due to begin on July 24th 2020.
Update (04.03.2020) – Basketball Africa postpones start of inaugural season
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) on Tuesday (03.03.20) postponed the league’s inaugural season in Senegal amid the confirmation of the country’s first Coronavirus case.
The history-making season had been scheduled to kick off Friday, March 13 in Dakar, Senegal.
The BAL, a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the NBA, is a new professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa.
Update (05.03.20) James Bond ‘No Time To Die’ premiere postponed
The release of ‘No Time To Die’ has been delayed until November 2020.
The 25th James Bond movie which will see Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007 had been due to hit cinemas in April 2020 but it has now been pushed back by seven months, reportedly due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak around the world.
According to a statement released on the official James Bond Twitter handle, “The film will be released in the U.K. on November 12, with worldwide release dates to follow, including the US launch on November 25, 2020.”
As the world is struggling to find a solution to the novel Coronavirus or COVID-19, some TV series and movies have shown the emergence of a virus like Corona over the years. Check out the seven TV series that have depicted an epidemic like Coronavirus here.
