A coronavirus that started in Wuhan, China, has already killed 25 people and infected 830 more. The virus has caused scare and unrest not only in the country but in various parts of the world where several cases were reported. The outbreak forces the Chinese telecom giant Huawei to postpone its annual flagship developer conference.
Huawei recently announced that it is delaying a huge developer conference for more than a month due to the lethal coronavirus outbreak causing mayhem in China. Huawei said it is pushing the event to Mar. 27 and Mar. 28 because of the epidemic. The announcement was made on the HDC.Cloud.
The Huawei developers event was originally planned for Feb 11. and Feb 12 on Shenzen, according to the event website. For the uninitiated, HDC.Cloud is the largest yearly developer conference of the Huawei Group. In other words, it is a significant event where notable announcements are made.
Additionally, the Huawei Developer Conference of 2020 is a huge event attended by foreign developers. Also, key figures in the Information and Communications (ICT) industry participate in the event. The main goal of the event is to create a worldwide platform for communications.
It has been the Chinese telecom giant's yearly event for the past three decades. Originally, this year's event was scheduled in Shenzen, which is the company's home headquarter. The coastal city of Shenzen is just 700 miles south of Wuhan.
At present, China placed Wuhan on lockdown since the disease spreads ahead of the New Year holiday. Huawei, along with other companies, already informed their employees to avoid traveling to Wuhan, according to the New York Post. Foxconn, a Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer, and supplier of Apple, also informed its employees in Taiwan not to travel in China over the holiday.
Chinese officials earlier confirmed over 800 cases of the coronavirus. Cases of the virus have been reported in the US, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Symptoms include difficulty in breathing, fever, and cough.
Flights out of Wuhan were already suspended, and officials in Hanggang might shut down public transportation before the weekends. In the Philippines, 135 Chinese arrived in Caticlan Airport in Boracay on Thursday night just right after the lockdown in Wuhan. Reports in the Philippines revealed that they would be sent back to China for health purposes.
The coronavirus outbreak has affected global stock markets because of fears about the virus. Huawei has not yet announced if it is going to hold the Developers Event in Shenzen or other locations.
