14 DAY TRIAL // The Mobile World Conference will open its doors on February 24, and approximately 100,000 people from all over the world are expected to attend in order to witness the latest announcements in the mobile phone industry.
Given the huge interest in the show from people all around the globe, organizers and Spanish authorities have announced a hygiene protocol specifically supposed to help avoid coronavirus infections.
More specifically, handshakes between those attending the show are not recommended, and organizers will replace microphones after each keynote. Furthermore, GSMA has created a free 24-hour telephone Security and Medical serves for all attendees, while also providing hygiene recommendations not only to those participating in the event, but also to local hotels, public and private transport, restaurants, and catering outlets.
On-site first aid services are also available, the organization said.
Companies canceling their MWC presence
And while GSMA claims there’s just “minimal impact on the event thus far,” two large companies have already canceled their press events at the Mobile World Congress.
LG will no longer hold a keynote at MWC, while ZTE, whose 5G device rollout is under way, will only send a delegation to Barcelona, but won’t be holding a press conference as it originally announced.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Huawei and Xiaomi will send its staff to Barcelona earlier, while Samsung, Oppo, Microsoft, and MediaTek will attend the show with no changes to the original plans.
“The GSMA has implemented many measures to help to mitigate the spread of the virus and is continuing to add other actions regularly,” GSMA said in an announcement this week. “The GSMA is building on its existing plans to protect the health of our attendees, clients and staff at MWC Barcelona. Colleagues around the world are taking active measures to contain and lessen any further spread of the virus.”