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Thread: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Wuhan Pneumonia

  1. #106
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    Subscriptions are on their way!

    To all our subscribers, thank you for your patience, support and understanding.



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  2. #107
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    Postponed

    From CMAT's facebook:
    Unfortunately it is with regret that I must announce that CMAT 28 will be postponed until next year. I apologize any inconvenience that this decision may have cost any of you. The CMAT committee did not easily make this decision. But, as of today only 79 competitors have signed up for the competition. From further investigation, we realized many people are not willing to travel because of the coronavirus, or to take part in big events. Certainly, we understand everyone's concern, and make your safety and health our main concern.

    So we will resume next year. Hopefully, by that time we will have the virus under control!

    Please, stay in touch through our various channels for latest developments in CMAT, and Collegiate Wushu.

    Thank you for your support.

    Sifu Bryant Fong

    CMAT Chair

    and CMAT 28 Committee
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  3. #108
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    PRC film loses $125 M after CNY to COVID-19

    ASIA MARCH 2, 2020 5:14AM PT
    China’s Box Office Loses Up to $214 Million in Two Months Due to Coronavirus
    By VIVIENNE CHOW



    View of a closed cinema after the Chinese government discouraged public gatherings due to a virus outbreak, in Beijing, China, 27 January 2020. China warned that the coronavirus outbreak is accelerating further, deepening fears about an epidemic that has affected more than 2,700 people worldwide and killed at least 80 people in the country.China coronavirus outbreak accelerating further, Beijing - 27 Jan 2020
    CREDIT: WU HONG/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
    China’s box office might have lost as much as RMB 1.5 billion ($214 million) in the first two months of this year due to the coronavirus outbreak, but a nationwide resumption of movie theaters and production is unlikely to happen any time soon.

    “Judging from the current situation, the film industry is not equipped to resume business yet, and we have not approved industry’s demands to resume business as of now,” said Chen Bei, deputy secretary general of the Beijing municipal government.

    Local data company Ent Group has estimated that box-office receipts in January and February have totaled only RMB 220 million ($31.3 million), compared to RMB 1.45 billion ($217 million) in the same period in 2019 and RMB 1.51 billion ($241.6 million) in 2018.

    Ent Group estimated the decline in box office could be as high as RMB 1.5 billion ($214 million) due to the fact that the Lunar New Year holiday season started on Jan. 25, much earlier compared with the usual beginning of or mid-February. “An early holiday season should’ve given more time for the box office to grow,” the report said.

    But cinemas were forced to shut down just before the Lunar New Year holiday and Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province were locked down on Jan. 23.

    The estimated figures came after the release of a joint directive from Beijing Center for Diseases Prevention and Control, and Beijing Municipal Film Bureau on Feb. 26, which stipulates strict guidelines for cinema operators and film crews if they wish to resume business.

    Cinema operators must seek approval from the authorities to re-open movie theaters and adopt stringent measures such as selling tickets on alternate rows, requiring movie-goers to register with their real names and personal details, and auditoriums to be thoroughly disinfected after each screening.

    Film crews with less than 50 people can resume filming in Beijing if they are approved, but only if their body temperature does not exceed 37.3 degree celsius. All film crew members must wear masks throughout the production, except for performers.

    But film crews with more than 50 people will not be allowed to resume filming in Beijing until the plague is gone. Crew members travelling from affected areas such as Hubei province are not allowed to take part in any production in the city.

    Ent Group added in the report that cinemas in China are not likely to re-open in March. As of March 2, Covid-19 has already infected more than 80,000 in mainland China and killed 2,914 people.
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  4. #109
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    A silver lining - pollution reduced

    Empty Cities and Stalled Industrial Production, New Analysis Shows Coronavirus Has Cut China's Carbon Emissions by 100 Million Metric Tons


    A view of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing's Tiantan Park on Feb. 19, 2020. Artyom Ivanov—TASS/Getty Images

    BY AKSHAT RATHI AND JEREMY HODGES / BLOOMBERG FEBRUARY 19, 2020

    One of the deadliest epidemics in decades has dented energy demand and industrial output in China, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by about 100 million metric tons—close to what Chile emits in a year.

    A new analysis by the climate nonprofit Carbon Brief found that the widespread impact of the virus—including travel restrictions, longer holidays, and lower economic activity—means that neither has recovered from the usual lull around the Chinese New Year, a roughly two-week festival that began this year on January 25.

    The report looked at emissions during the two-week period beginning 10 days after the start of the festival and compared that to the same period for each of the previous five years. Over that period in 2019, China emitted 400 million metric tons of carbon dioxide; this year’s figure is likely closer to 300 million metric tons.

    Coal consumption also has yet to recover from its usual holiday breather. A month before the Lunar New Year, burning of the dirtiest fossil fuel was in line with previous years’ rates. Since then, it’s fallen to a four-year low, according to the analysis.

    China’s economy is grinding to a halt as the government scrambles to stop the spread of the deadly Wuhan coronavirus, fueling fears that efforts to contain the outbreak will have
    Although pictures of empty city centers and public transport might seem like evidence for the large decline in emissions, the fact is that China’s energy consumption is dominated by industry. The reduction in emissions is mostly a result of lower output from oil refineries and lower coal use for power generation and steel-making, as China’s government struggles to control the epidemic. The death toll from the virus on mainland China reached 2,000 on Feb. 18.

    There were 72,436 confirmed cases of people infected with Coronavirus in mainland China as of Feb. 17, according to the National Health Commission with the death toll at 1,868.

    If the short-term reductions last, annual emissions for the country will fall by just 1%. But there’s no guarantee that they will. China has plenty of spare capacity in both power generation and industries to ramp up output once the infection rate starts to come down and protections ease.

    Research from BloombergNEF released Tuesday shows that, despite the erosion in China’s productivity, the country’s emissions could still increase due to an infrastructure-focused stimulus package being prepared by the government, which will require the country to continue burning coal and increase its use of cement and steel.
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  5. #110
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    Good article on PRC Wild Animal Trade Ban



    Voices & Opinion
    The Challenge Facing China’s Wild Animal Trade Ban
    If the country is serious about curbing the wild animal trade, it needs to rethink its approach.


    Feb 27, 2020 5-min read
    Voices
    Zhou Hongcheng
    Professor of food culture
    Zhou Hongcheng is an assistant professor of Chinese food culture at Zhejiang Gongshang University.

    On Feb. 24, China announced it would implement a “comprehensive” and immediate ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals nationwide. The move cemented an earlier emergency ban enacted amid the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, which has killed 2,800 and sickened over 80,000 worldwide as of Feb. 27.

    But whether it will have a lasting impact is another question. This isn’t the first time a zoonotic coronavirus has devastated China or sparked a legislative and popular backlash against wild animal consumption. SARS, which some scientists believe jumped to humans from masked palm civets at a wet market in southern China, killed nearly 800 people around the world from 2002 to 2004. While recent research has cast doubt on the theory that COVID-19 originated in a live animal market in the central city of Wuhan, virologists still believe it was likely transmitted to humans from wild animals, possibly endangered pangolins.

    In the wake of the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak, China updated its existing rules governing the wildlife trade, but a combination of loopholes and muddled enforcement has continued to render them largely ineffective. If we want this time to be different, we first need to understand the cultural and commercial drivers of the trade, as well as the flaws in the current regulatory and enforcement system.

    Chinese have consumed wild animals for thousands of years, though contrary to stereotypes abroad, they are hardly a fixture of the country’s dinner tables. In its most basic form, the practice was a matter of survival: China had a large population, limited arable land, and a long history of natural and man-made disasters. In times of need, many ordinary Chinese turned to wild animals and plants for sustenance.

    In non-emergencies, the traditional notion that “like nourishes like” led many to believe that eating animal parts could have a beneficial effect on the diner’s corresponding body part. For example, braised beef tendon was seen as a curative for frail knees, and sheep’s ***** as a virility booster.

    As the above examples show, such customs aren’t necessarily tied to the consumption of wild or exotic animals. But there is a long-standing belief in China that the rarer something is, the greater its value. Rare or hard-to-obtain meat was — and sometimes still is — thought to have extremely potent medicinal effects. It could also be a powerful symbol of filial piety, love, and respect, as in the folk story of the woman who cut flesh from her thigh to cook a medicinal porridge for her mother-in-law.

    One domestic media outlet found over 100 possible exceptions to the new rules, including sika deer, red deer, and ring-necked pheasant.
    - Zhou Hongcheng, professor
    These customs have been reinforced by the tenets of traditional Chinese medicine, which makes liberal usage of ingredients extracted from wild animals — such as tiger bone, pilose antler, and deer fetus. Pangolins are another common source of curatives. And while the consumption of pangolin meat is illegal in the country, an exception for TCM practitioners has long allowed the scales of farm-bred pangolins to be prescribed for medicinal use — a loophole that has greatly complicated efforts to protect the species.

    China has had a wildlife protection law on the books since 1988, but its single-minded focus on encouraging the commercial rearing and breeding of species over conservation has led many critics to dub it the “wildlife exploitation law.” In particular, species categorized as one of the “three haves” — having “ecological, scientific, or social value,” like pangolins — were eligible to be bred and sold by licensed farms, which have become a key pillar of rural economies in impoverished parts of the country.

    In addition to forming a regulatory blind spot — the relevant authorities generally lack the resources to ensure wildlife farms are operating legally and within regulations — farm-raised wildlife muddies the waters for what is and isn’t legal to consume. The latest ban, despite its claim to be “comprehensive,” does little to clear things up. One domestic media outlet found over 100 possible exceptions to the new rules, including sika deer, red deer, and ring-necked pheasant.

    It doesn’t have to be this way. On Feb. 25, the day after China announced its nationwide ban on the wild animal trade, the southern megacity of Shenzhen unveiled its own version of the rules, including a white list with just nine types of meat on it. On the city’s black list were a number of species, including turtles, snakes, and some types of birds that local authorities believed posed a risk to public health, despite still being legal to raise under national law.

    That’s a far simpler and more effective approach than the convoluted new national ban, but it may not be enough on its own. One of the primary reasons China is so vulnerable to zoonotic diseases is the very nature of its cities — and the places where animals, both wild and domesticated, are sold.

    Wet markets have been linked to numerous infectious disease outbreaks in China over the years, from SARS to bird flu, and their close proximity to residential areas makes them a sizeable community risk. COVID-19 might not have originated in a Wuhan wet market, but the market’s central location almost certainly helped accelerate its spread.

    Wet markets’ reputations as incubators for disease makes them easy targets during epidemics, and local governments around the country have responded to the current crisis with bans and cleanup campaigns. The eastern province of Zhejiang, for example, has not just cracked down on the wild animal trade, but also the sale of live poultry.

    These campaign-style enforcement efforts cannot achieve lasting change. As long as small markets are allowed to sell and slaughter live animals, resource-strapped local governments will be hard-pressed to monitor and regulate their compliance with health and sanitation codes. To reduce the risk of animal-to-human transmission, slaughter and packaging operations should be moved to large-scale, advanced, and easier-to-monitor operations away from residential areas.

    The guiding principles of any legislation should be clarity and practicability
    - Zhou Hongcheng, professor
    Ultimately, the guiding principles of any legislation should be clarity and practicability. Banning the wildlife trade altogether while carving out a broad array of exceptions for different species and market needs clearly hasn’t been effective. And although Shenzhen’s new guidelines are admirably clear, they likely go too far: One of the delights of any cuisine is variety, and banning all but the most common livestock outright will likely cause resentment that could set back the conservation movement. We need to assess the risks and conservation needs of each individual species before making a clear and definite decision one way or the other.

    Meanwhile, we should take steps to lower demand for wild animals. There is research showing young Chinese are already less interested in wild animal consumption than older generations. We should encourage this trend through health and scientific education, such as by pointing out the lack of scientific evidence for most TCM remedies. Higher taxes can also be used to slowly discourage consumption of wild animal byproducts.

    Changing long-ingrained eating habits will take time. Rather than rushing in with a blanket ban, we should rationally examine the issue, identify the core problems, and work to resolve them, step-by-step.

    Translator: David Ball; editors: Wu Haiyun and Kilian O’Donnell.

    (Header image: A Chinese pangolin strolls in the soil, June 2017. IC)
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  6. #111
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    The html addy for this is 'coronavirus-no-time-to-die-mulan' ironically.

    NEWS FEBRUARY 28, 2020 6:15AM PT
    Hollywood Studios Assembling Coronavirus Strategy Teams
    By BRENT LANG
    Executive Editor of Film and Media
    @https://twitter.com/BrentALang

    .
    CREDIT: NICOLE DOVE

    As coronavirus continues its deadly march across the globe, the outbreak is wreaking havoc with Hollywood’s efforts to launch major movies and shows. In the process, companies are asking employees to delay work trips to countries such as China, Japan, Italy and South Korea, the regions that have been the most affected by the disease, and they are scuttling promotional campaigns for several upcoming blockbusters.

    Studios have already cancelled plans for China premieres for films such as Disney’s “Mulan” and the James Bond adventure “No Time to Die” — moves that could cost those movies tens of millions in box office revenue. Sony’s “Bloodsport” was also expected to screen in China, but that release date remains up in the air. Most of these films hadn’t gotten the official word from Chinese authorities that they would be allowed to screen in the country, but there’s little chance that will come any time soon, as movie theaters in China remain closed. There are also indications that several upcoming movies such as “Mulan,” “The Grudge,” and “Onward” will delay their release in Italy, where the number of cases recently jumped to 400. No major U.S. films will debut in the country this weekend. Globally, the disease, named COVID-19, has infected over 82,500 people and killed 2,810. Healthcare experts expect that number to climb as coronavirus continues to spread to other parts of the world.

    No studios were willing to go on the record about their response to the crisis, but privately they said they were taking “a wait-and-see” approach as the number of hotspots expands. Many are in regular contact with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization as they assess the rapidly changing situation.

    Most of the major studios have begun assembling advisory teams comprising members of their production, marketing, finance, and human resources staff to assess the potential impact of the disease. Part of their task is to figure out how staff in these affected areas can remain safe. In some cases, they’re encouraging people in areas where there are a growing number of cases to work from home, and helping to ensure the technology is in place to make that happen.

    Another topic of discussion is the business ramifications of a health crisis that has the potential to grow into an epidemic or pandemic. Studios are trying to determine if they should move major releases to avoid debuting films in parts of the world where coronavirus is spreading. At the same time, they’re assessing what impact such moves will have on other movies that are scheduled to debut later in 2020 and 2021. Studio executives believe that the theater closures in China and Italy, as well as the spread of the disease in major markets such as South Korea could result in billions of dollars in lost ticket sales.

    “Mulan,” a $200 million adventure film with a cast of Asian actors, was expected to resonate in markets such as China, where it may not play for weeks or months. Rival studios say they are watching to see how Disney handles the challenges of debuting the film at a time when theaters in some countries are closed and people are hesitant to spend time in public spaces, before determining what to do with their own upcoming releases. The Bond film, “Wonder Woman: 1984,” and the ninth “Fast & Furious” movie are among the major films debuting in the coming months that had planned robust international rollouts. Those could be impacted if the disease continues to spread. The latest 007 adventure had originally intended to take a promotional swing through China, South Korea, and Japan, but those plans have been abandoned.

    So far, studios such as Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, and Disney are also still expected to attend CinemaCon along with the stars of their upcoming movies. The annual exhibition industry trade show is being held in Las Vegas at the end of March and brings attendees from across the globe — though Chinese companies have cancelled on account of the travel ban. In a note to participants this week, Mitch Neuhauser, managing director of CinemaCon, and John Fithian, head of the National Association of Theatre Owners, the group behind the convention, said they still expected the event to be well-attended.

    “An encouraging measure of the impact of coronavirus is that the number of concerned emails or phone calls coming to us are minimal,” they wrote. “We are, though, inundated with our normal number of emails and calls that are all about the planning of the convention.”

    Justin Kroll contributed to this report.
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  7. #112
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    There's an embedded vid behing the link.

    Or you could just get it here: 6 Healing Sounds (Liuzijue) DVD With Instruction Manual

    Video丨Six Healing Sounds Qigong recommends for COVID-19 patients
    By:Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2020-03-02 11:52

    As traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has proved to be effective in the treatment of the novel coronavirus-related pneumonia, many people are beginning to try the therapy.

    For those patients in the stage of recovery, a set of Six Healing Sounds (also called Liuzijue in Chinese) Qigong is recommended by TCM experts.


    Wang Zhenwei,Deputy Chief Physician fromYueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine,Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine,demonstrates the Six Healing SoundsQigong. [Photo/kankannews.com]

    The Six Healing Sounds is a breathing technique devised by the ancient Chinese to improve health and promote healing and longevity. The earliest record of the breathing technique is believed to appear during the Southern and Northern Dynasties written by Tao Hongjing, a well-known TCM doctor, Taoist, alchemist as well as astrologer who lived from AD 456 to 536.

    According to the TCM theory, the five major organs — heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney — are each assigned an element (fire, earth, metal, water or wood). Every organ also has an associated sound which the organ resonates with. By using the associated sound, stale and congested qi can be expelled from the affected organ and be replaced with fresh and clear qi.

    Therefore, the Six Healing Sounds practice helps to move congested qi and allow the body to get rid of it by creating different internal vibrations and pressures within different parts of the body through the inhaling and exhaling of air. In other words, when people make the six healing sounds, they are giving the internal organs a good massage to expel stale qi.



    Subtitles: Zheng Qian;

    Video source: Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine,Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
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  8. #113
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    Tcm

    Coronavirus: 85 per cent of patients in China benefiting from traditional Chinese medicine, officials claim
    Ancient remedies play a complementary role to Western drugs in fighting the potentially deadly infection, officials, doctors say
    But others say TCM works only as a placebo and that people who say they have benefited would have recovered anyway
    Echo Xie in Beijing
    Published: 10:00am, 28 Feb, 2020


    Some doctors are using traditional Chinese medicine to treat coronavirus patients. Photo: Xinhua

    More than 80 per cent of coronavirus patients in China are being treated with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) alongside more mainstream antiviral drugs, according to local health officials.
    While acknowledging that the ancient practice has no specific treatments for Covid-19 – the pneumonia-like disease caused by the virus, which has sickened over 82,000 people and killed more than 2,800 since the outbreak began in central China in December – some experts said they had witnessed a higher recovery rate among those using both TCM and Western drugs, than solely mainstream treatments.
    Xu Nanping, a vice-minister of science and technology, said last week that about 85 per cent of patients in China had been given the combined treatment.


    The novel coronavirus has infected more than 82,000 people. Photo: Xinhua

    China’s National Health Commission prescribes the use of TCM alongside Western drugs in its guidelines for the treatment of people infected with the coronavirus.
    Song Juexian, a doctor with the integrated TCM and Western medicine unit at Xuanwu Hospital in Beijing, said traditional Chinese medicine had the benefit of enhancing the patients’ “internal balance”.
    “Chinese medicine has been practised for at least 3,000 years. It is the wisdom of our ancestors and it is [still] progressing,” she said. “I believe the effects of combined use of TCM and Western medicine will become better and better.”
    Gao Xiaojun, a spokesman for the Beijing Health Commission, was equally keen to promote the use of the ancient technique, saying TCM had made a significant contribution to patients’ recovery.
    “Traditional Chinese medicine has played an active role in improving the recovery rate and lowering the mortality rate among patients,” he told a press conference on Monday.
    According to him, 87 per cent of coronavirus patients in Beijing had been given traditional medicines and 92 per cent of those had shown improvement.



    A spokesman for the Beijing Health Commission says the use of TCM has made a significant contribution to patients’ recovery. Photo: Xinhua
    Wang Xianbo, director of the integrative medicine department at Beijing Ditan Hospital, said 90 per cent of the confirmed coronavirus cases at his hospital were receiving traditional Chinese medicine as part of their treatment.
    The efficacy rate of TCM was 87.5 per cent and the figure rose to 92.3 per cent with the addition of Western drugs, he said.
    However, a doctor in Guangzhou, the capital of south China’s Guangdong province, said people should not overstate the effectiveness of traditional Chinese remedies.
    “Those patients would have recovered even if they hadn’t taken the Chinese medicine,” he said. “After all, 80 per cent of them had relatively mild symptoms.”
    The doctor, who declined to give his name due to the sensitivity of the issue, also questioned why so many patients were being treated with TCM.
    “At least in my hospital, I would not want so many patients to take TCM, because if they do we can’t observe the effectiveness of the Western medicines,” he said.
    A surgeon from the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong, who also declined to give his name, said that regardless of the treatments they used, doctors must always be scientific in their approach.
    “Science is the foundation of medicine and science needs to be verifiable,” he said.
    “No matter what kind of medicine, it’s irresponsible to use them on patients before verifying their effectiveness and safety.”




    Echo Xie
    Echo is a Beijing-based reporter focusing on Chinese politics and policy. She joined the SCMP in 2019. Previously, she worked for CSMonitor Beijing Bureau and Jiemian news.
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  9. #114
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    South Korea's big outbreak started in a Christian cult with it's leader claiming to be Jesus and instructing his following to ignore the virus. Now this out of Iran. Same itinerary only multiplied to the max. https://www.foxnews.com/health/advis...ked-to-country

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    Building up your immune system in advance to the spread of the virus is something I would suggest for helping to ward off the impact of encountering this epidemic. For 8 years solid I was able to keep from getting a cold or it's symptoms by using echinacea combined with vitamin C during the winter months. Last winter I caught a cold that wiped me out that I had to deal with by not preparing myself as much as I usually did. This winter I have not taken any chances and have not had a cold thus far. The use of echinacia (cone flowers) originates with the native American (Plains Indians). They even kept their horses from catching pneumonia by having them breath the smoke from the leaves of the plant in their campfires. I grow the stuff in my butterfly garden.
    https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/252684
    Last edited by PalmStriker; 03-02-2020 at 12:58 PM.

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    Got a link for that Korean Christion cult, PalmStriker?

    Here are all the major tech conferences canceled so far because of coronavirus
    The cancellations of some of the biggest tech events of the year could be a sign of what’s to come in other sectors.
    By Shirin Ghaffary Updated Feb 28, 2020, 3:14pm EST


    Facebook canceled its annual F8 conference in San Jose, California, over coronavirus concerns. Amy Osborne/AFP via Getty Images

    The Covid-19 coronavirus is prompting major tech conferences around the world to cancel their events — so far, several major ones have been called off entirely, including Facebook’s annual F8 developer conference. It’s an unprecedented disruption to the usual packed lineup of annual tech events every spring.

    The cancellations of some of the biggest tech events of the year seem to be a sign of what’s to come in other sectors as fears mount that the coronavirus will become a pandemic. The US tech industry shares close ties to China, where the outbreak started, and some in the industry were so concerned about the virus that they took early precautions, like discouraging handshakes and requiring employees who have recently traveled to China to work from home.

    Here’s a running list of notable tech conferences, which typically draw between 500 to 100,000 attendees a year, that have been canceled so far due to coronavirus:

    Mobile World Congress in Barcelona
    Facebook Global Marketing Summit in San Francisco
    Facebook F8 in San Jose, California
    EmTech, Asia in Singapore
    Google News Initiative Global Summit in Sunnyvale, California
    Shopify’s developer conference, Unite, in Toronto

    The tech event cancellations also come at the same time public health leaders are considering how other, larger global events outside of tech, like the Tokyo summer Olympics, should respond if the outbreak continues to spread in the months ahead. Japan’s prime minister recently took the drastic step of closing all of the country’s schools for a month to try to contain the virus’s spread.

    Covid-19 has taken the lives of 2,867 people as of Friday and infected more than 80,000 people. In the past week, the number of new cases of the virus outside of China, in the US, Italy, Japan, and other countries has been surging. That worries global health experts, who say there’s now less of a chance that it can be contained.

    On Thursday, Facebook said that due to concerns about the virus, it’s canceling F8 — its biggest event of the year, which last year attracted thousands of attendees from dozens of countries. Instead, it will put on smaller “locally hosted events, videos and live streamed content.”

    F8 is one of several big tech conferences, including Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, that has been canceled altogether or negatively impacted due to coronavirus. Also on Thursday, Microsoft and Epic Games pulled out of one of the video game industry’s major conferences, Game Developers Conference, in San Francisco on March 16-17.

    Industry leaders are particularly concerned about events in tech’s capital in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has some of the highest travel rates to and from China compared to other regions in the US. Earlier this month, Facebook canceled a 5,000-person marketing event in San Francisco scheduled in March due to similar concerns.

    And on Tuesday, the mayor of San Francisco declared the city to be in a state of emergency, although there are still zero confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the city. Concerns are increasing after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that a person in Solano County, in Northern California, has been diagnosed with the virus who seemingly had no ties to anyone overseas with the disease, suggesting that the coronavirus may now be spreading person-to-person in the US.

    Meanwhile, some other major tech conferences, such as the RSA IT security conference in San Francisco’s Moscone Center, which attracts some 40,000 attendees annually, carried on as planned this week and featured speakers from Facebook, Twitter, and Google. IBM, AT&T Cybersecurity, and Verizon, however, pulled out over coronavirus fears. Organizers reportedly encouraged attendees to knock elbows instead of shake hands and placed ample hand sanitizer stations in the conference halls.

    Considering Facebook and other major tech companies have canceled or pulled out of conferences, it raises questions about whether other major conferences will do the same.

    Google and Apple are also scheduled to have major conferences in the San Francisco Bay Area in May and June, respectively. Google confirmed that it is currently planning to host its I/O conference on May 12 to 14 in Mountain View, and that it’s following World Health Organization and CDC best practices.

    Recode is also hosting its annual Code tech conference in May in Los Angeles. The conference is considerably smaller than others that have been canceled, such as Mobile World Congress, which had more than 100,000 attendees last year.

    “We are watching this closely to see what happens between now and the end of May. The health and safety of our community is of utmost importance to Recode and Vox Media,” Shannon Thompson, the executive director of conferences for Recode, said.

    South By Southwest, another conference that attracts many people in the tech industry and that draws over 30,000 people, said it plans to continue with the event on March 13 to 22. A spokesperson sent the following statement to Recode:

    The SXSW 2020 event is proceeding as planned. Safety is a top priority for SXSW, and we work closely with local, state, and federal agencies year-round to plan for a safe event. Where travel has been impacted, especially in the case of China, we are seeing a handful of cancellations. However, we are on par with years past in regard to registrants who are unable to attend. We are increasing our efforts to prevent the spread of disease per Austin Public Health’s recommendations. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide updates as necessary.
    Apple did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
    The facebook & Google cancellations affect us here locally. One of my Kung Fu brothers that does infrastructure gigs for these lost 4 jobs over the last month. A lot of locals lost jobs because these conventions employ a lot of infrastructure.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  12. #117
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    Last edited by PalmStriker; 03-02-2020 at 01:00 PM.

  13. #118
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    wow

    Just wow.

    Quote Originally Posted by PalmStriker View Post
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  14. #119
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    The 2020 Santa Cruz Open Taekwondo Championships just cancelled

    We've worked with Master Jin on this for years. It's a local TKD tournament that attracts about 500+ competitors every year. Here is the website.

    Below is his emailblast:
    Dear Grandmasters, Masters, Instructors, Referees, and Students,

    I am sorry to announce that I have decided to cancel the Santa Cruz Open Tae Kwon Do Championship this year, March 7, 2020. While there is no imminent threat of coronavirus to our participants, we are committed to the good health and well-being of all.
    If you have paid already you will receive a refund of the tournament fee.
    Thank you for your continued support of the Tae Kwon Do community.
    My very best wishes to you for continued health and success.

    Tournament Director

    Grandmaster Sang Jin
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    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  15. #120
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    COVID-19 impact on global entertainment

    Entertainment giants brace for outsize hit from theme park closures, cinema shutdowns
    "China alone is a third of the world’s movie screens. I can’t think of anything comparable," said one entertainment expert about the financial impact of cinemas across China remaining shuttered.


    A security guard wearing a protective facemask is seen at the temporarily closed Shanghai Disney resort in Shanghai on Feb. 23, 2020.Noel Celis / AFP - Getty Images file
    March 3, 2020, 6:02 AM PST
    By Claire Atkinson

    Major entertainment and media conglomerates have been grappling with the unstoppable coronavirus contagion in Asia and Europe, and now it’s arrived on American shores.

    COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, has already claimed six lives in the United States, with almost 100 confirmed cases nationwide, making some Americans cautious about spending time in public spaces.

    "This virus has so many unknowns and is clearly highly contagious. Why take the risk, being in huge public places like theme parks or contained on a cruise ship?” Stacey Bendet, chief executive of Alice+Olivia fashion company, told NBC News.

    Shares of some entertainment stocks fell on Monday, with Live Nation, SeaWorld Entertainment and Six Flags showing declines for the day. Disney and Netflix stocks rose — along with fitness company Peloton — as interest in "at-home" entertainment gathers strength.

    “If [the virus] is a major issue in the U.S. into the May/June time frame, all bets are off," said James Hardiman, a managing director at Wedbush Securities. "I wouldn’t think we are there yet,” he said, noting that the big regional parks aren’t yet open for the season.

    China has not been so lucky. Shanghai's $5.5 billion Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland both closed indefinitely on Jan. 26, which Disney said would ding its bottom line by $175 million. In Japan, the two Disney-branded theme parks in Tokyo are closed until March 16 as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus.

    "The precise magnitude of the financial impact is highly dependent on the duration of the closures," Disney's Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said last month.

    Universal's Osaka theme park has also closed down for two weeks as part of the government mandate. Universal Beijing Resort, a giant theme park under construction and penciled for a spring opening, has emergency staff back on the job. They are being monitored with thermal equipment and some have been encouraged to work at home, according to a spokesperson for the company. Universal is owned by Comcast, the parent company of NBC News.

    Television show production has also been hurt. CBS said on Friday it would postpone filming on its global adventure TV series, “The Amazing Race,” citing "increased concerns and uncertainty regarding the coronavirus around the world."

    Film producers have been left in limbo. “This has thrown a wrench into filming schedules,” said Rob Cain, a partner in Pacific Bridge Picture, which works closely with Chinese companies. Cain said it was unclear how insurance policies would deal with the problem, given all the lost revenue.

    China began closing some 70,000 movie theaters on Jan. 23, with no word on when they might open again.

    "China alone is a third of the world’s movie screens,” Cain said. “I can’t think of anything comparable, and I’ve been in the business 30 years."

    Global box office revenue clocked in at $42.5 billion in 2019, with China representing $9.2 billion.

    “It is an enormous impact,” said Stanley Rosen, an expert in U.S.-China relations and a professor of political science at the University of Southern California. He pointed to the potentially delayed release of Disney’s $200 million Chinese warrior movie “Mulan” in the China market, which is slated to open in late March globally.

    In Europe, AMC Theatres closed its cinemas in Northern Italy to help local governments contain the spread of the disease. Half of all Italian cinemas are now closed, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The Cannes Film Festival said it was monitoring the epidemic, but would move ahead with its May event, even though a Cannes resident tested positive for the virus.


    Claire Atkinson
    Claire Atkinson is the senior media editor for NBC News.
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    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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