Organizers of the Mobile World Congress pulled the plug on the show — and the 100,000 visitors it normally draws — less than two weeks before it was set to start Monday in Barcelona, marking a turning point for companies in the global battle against a new virus that’s killed more than 2,100 in China over the last seven weeks.
Since the disease, named COVID-19, emerged from the city of Wuhan in late December, U.S. airlines have cut service to much of China and Hong Kong and dozens of trade exhibitions and conferences have been canceled or postponed. Major corporations have pulled their executives from attending conferences across the globe, including major trade shows in the U.S., as fears of a possible pandemic spread of the virus gripped the world meeting market.
