Emerald City Comic Con moving forward despite concerns over coronavirus
Mar 2, 2020, 8:11 AM | Updated: 10:24 am
Emerald City Comic Con. (Photo courtesy of NW Nerd Podcast)
(Photo courtesy of NW Nerd Podcast)
Despite ongoing concerns related to the spread of coronavirus, Emerald City Comic Con will go forward as planned this year in downtown Seattle.
All of the confirmed coronavirus cases across Washington state
The popular event will run for four days between March 12 and March 15 at the Washington State Convention Center, and boasts tens of thousands of attendees every year. 2019 was its biggest installment yet, pulling in roughly 98,000 people from Washington, the rest of the United States, and many other countries across the globe.
For its 2020 iteration, the convention announced Sunday that will implement “enhanced cleaning and sanitization across the show,” while working closely with health officials to strictly adhere to safety guidelines.
“We will be constantly reviewing our health protection activities, public health messaging, hygiene, and medical control measures with the aim of strengthening our COVID-19 response further in line with up to date public health advice and guidance,” ECCC said on Twitter.
U.S. EPA’s Emerging Pathogen Policy regarding cleaning disinfectants effective against the COVID-19 virus. We are working closely with the WSCC and our other venue partners and aligning with local, state and federal public health guidelines and agencies. (3/7)
— Emerald City Comic Con (@emeraldcitycon) March 1, 2020
This comes as many other large-scale events across the United States have opted to either cancel or delay. That includes Facebook’s F8 conference in California, the largest physics convention in the country in Denver, and Long Beach’s Trans-Pacific Merchants conference.
Researchers: Coronavirus likely spread silently in WA for weeks
Sony also recently backed out of PAX East in Boston, citing “increasing concerns” over coronavirus. Outside of the U.S., Blizzard canceled all Overwatch matches originally scheduled in China and South Korea.
As of publishing, health officials have confirmed 13 cases of coronavirus in Washington state, including two deaths.
