MWC Barcelona Implements Safety Measures to Save Event Amid Coronavirus Fears

Mobile World Congress 2020 is slated to take place in Barcelona on February 24-27, and the event has been forced to introduce safety precautions following the withdrawal of several major exhibitors from the gathering over fears of coronavirus infection. Amazon, LG Electronics, Ericsson and Nvidia are among companies who have pulled out of the annual event.

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To put a check on the spread of the dangerous virus MWC Barcelona has announced that it will not allow any visitors from China’s Hubei to the event as well as travelers who have been in China less than 14 days before the event. The team of MWC will also conduct temperature screening and will urge attendees to reveal if they had been in contact with anyone infected.

Roughly 5-6% (5000-6000) of the congress’ attendees have historically been from China. Chinese smartphone-makers are also a prominent presence at the event.

It is reported that OPPO and Xiaomi have canceled plans to organize tours for Chinese media as they did in previous years at the event. Huawei, ZTE and OPPO are deploying employees to Barcelona last week according to Nikkei, to ensure access to the event and to implement anti-viral safety measures. According to people familiar with the matter, Xiaomi is likely to mobilize their overseas staff to support the event.

Attendances for the annual Mobile World Congress regularly surpass 100,000 attendees. Last year’s edition of the event in Barcelona attracted 109,000.