WWDC in jeopardy as Santa Clara points new coronavirus

By Mikey Campbell
Thursday, March 05, 2020, 06:11 pm PT (09:11 pm ET)

The County of Santa Clara on Thursday issued steering within the wake of newly found COVID-19 circumstances, urging employers within the area, together with tech giants Apple and Google, to postpone or cancel mass gatherings.

Apple’s WWDC 2019 drew hundreds of builders from all over the world.

Santa Clara’s public well being division in a press launch introduced six new confirmed circumstances of the virus, brining the county complete as much as 20 folks. In an try to stop the unfold of COVID-19, new steering lists quite a few suggestions for residents and employers residing and dealing within the county’s cities, together with Cupertino, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose and Sunnyvale.

Particularly, firms working within the county are requested to droop nonessential worker journey, reduce shut worker contact at work, cancel giant conferences and conferences, and urge workers to remain residence when they’re sick, amongst different measures.

Additional, the division recommends suspending or canceling mass gatherings and huge group occasions “the place giant numbers of individuals are inside arm’s size of each other.” If a big gathering can’t be averted, steering calls on occasion planners to induce the sick or these at excessive threat for severe sickness to not attend, discover methods to offer guests with ample bodily area to keep away from shut contact, endorse “elevated” hygiene, and maintain public surfaces clear.

“We’re making these suggestions to guard probably the most weak members of our group from the virus, and sluggish its unfold,” mentioned Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara’s Public Well being Officer. “We’re constantly monitoring this evolving state of affairs, and can challenge new steering if and when that’s warranted.”

The steering arrives as Apple is anticipated to announce plans for this 12 months’s Worldwide Builders Convention. Historically held in June in and across the Bay Space of San Francisco, the annual conference sometimes includes keynotes, particular occasions, technical periods and different in-person happenings, and is attended by hundreds of builders from all over the world.

The Verge reported on Santa Clara’s steering earlier as we speak.

A variety of main worldwide occasions have been canceled resulting from considerations surrounding the unfold of COVID-19. Fb in February nixed stay parts of its annual F8 convention, GSMA canceled the Cellular World Convention in Barcelona, and Informa referred to as off the 2020 Recreation Builders Convention in San Francisco. On Monday, Google and Adobe canceled in-person segments of Google Cloud Subsequent 2020 and the Adobe Summit, whereas Google a day later scrubbed the stay portion of Google I/O.

Apple can also be taking steps to curb potential COVID-19 fallout and this week restricted worker journey to Italy and South Korea. The corporate additionally withdrew from SXSW 2020, the place it deliberate to premiere three Apple TV+ originals.