The Beijing Motor Show is also off

By topgear, 02 March 2020

The Beijing Motor Show has been postponed.

“Based on the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic situation, Beijing Municipal People’s Government has imposed its highest-level response mechanism for major public health emergencies,” said an official statement from the organisers.

“To ensure the health and safety of exhibitors and participants, we, on behalf of the Organizing Committee of the 2020 (16th) Beijing International Automobile Exhibition (Auto China 2020), have decided to postpone the event which was initially scheduled at the new and old venues of China International Exhibition Center (CIEC) in Beijing from April 21 to 30 this year.”

At this stage, it’s officially just postponed, and “the rescheduled date will be notified separately”. But with a Harvard epidemiologist’s estimate that between 40 and 70 per cent of the world’s population will contract SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for an estimated 75,000 to 90,000 cases worldwide, it’s anyone’s guess when people will want to gather at large international events.

At the moment, countries are enacting travel bans to Coronavirus hotspots, when 0.0001 per cent of the world’s population is infected. How are governments, event organisers and car brands going to react when between 40 to 70 per cent of the world’s population is at risk?

STORY Craig Jamieson

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