Amid coronavirus epidemic, LG, ZTE hang up on Mobile World Congress, organizers call for 'no-handshake' policy

LG Electronics has withdrawn from the Mobile World Congress trade show, held at the end of this month, citing concerns over the new virulent and deadly coronavirus. “With the safety of its employees, partners and customers foremost in mind, LG has decided to withdraw from exhibiting and participating in MWC 2020 later this …

[Pascal Monett]

"shows no sign of slowing down"

That is a worry, especially since we have already crossed the Twelve Monkeys line of international spreading of the infection.

At this point, I think it can't hurt to link to WHO advice concerning this new enemy.

The Situation Reports might also prove interesting to some.

[Gonzo wizard]

"The death rate is, according to Beijing's numbers, about two per cent"

The numbers here simply don't add up. The virus tracker web page takes data from China and shows, this morning, 493 deaths vs 915 people recovered. Even accepting that the majority of the early cases are older or less healthy individuals who are less able to battle the virus (and therefore more likely to show up at a hospital in the early days of the pandemic) there's a long way to go to be certain of 2%.

That said the Chinese have clearly reacted much more sensibly this time around, given the relatively low levels of infection outside mainland China.

For those who are interested, the virus tracker web page is here: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

[poohbear]

Re: "The death rate is, according to Beijing's numbers, about two per cent"

That 2% figure is deaths as a percentage of infections, which is completely the wrong way to do it. You can do it that way after the virus has run it's course, and you know the final dead/survive numbers.

Currently the dead:survive ratio is around 34:66.

[Anonymous Coward]

No handshakes

One kiss for each cheek fine though?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: No handshakes

> One kiss for each cheek fine though?

As long as they keep their pants on.

[Unep Eurobats]

Re: No handshakes

In general there's far too much pressing the flesh. A terse nod should be enough for all but close relations.

[EnviableOne]

LG throwing a Paddy

Just Cos Samsung are doing a lot better in mobile

[ARGO]

No handshaking?

At a comms event?

That's going to be a problem for the live demos!