The largest telephony program in the world, the Mobile World Congress, is moving forward with a face-to-face event in June, despite the risks that it could turn into a COVID-19 super-disseminator event.
More than 100,000 people usually attend MWC. John Hoffman, CEO of the GSM Association (which organizes the show), says those numbers will be reduced this year. He said Mobile World Live that he expects about 50,000 people to travel to Barcelona, interact with each other and with the locals and then fly back home.
The event’s security and protection page informs that the organizers will be “controlling the density of the crowd” and requiring masks. Hoffman said he does not expect everyone present to be vaccinated against COVID-19. “Our vision is that it would be great if the world were vaccinated, but we cannot count on it in 2021,” he said Mobile World Live.
Instead, the group is asking everyone present to have a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours after their arrival. The test is not a sufficient way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, especially when the tests are done so far in advance. One could easily test negative, contract the virus en route to MWC and spread the disease when it arrives. XPrize founder Peter Diamandis relied on testing to conduct a face-to-face conference in California with fewer than 100 people in January – but there was no quarantine requirement and mask use was not mandatory. Subsequently, dozens of people tested positive for the virus.
Large meetings and events, especially when related to international travel, can be breeding grounds for coronavirus infections. Hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 cases were linked to a biotechnology conference in Boston at the beginning of the pandemic, for example. The realization of a large event puts at risk not only the participants, but also the people who live in the region where the event takes place.
The GSM Association fought against the cancellation of its 2020 program, scheduled to take place in February, at a time when COVID-19 was emerging as a worldwide problem. It was necessary for major brands such as LG, ZTE, Sony and Amazon to withdraw in order for the group to close the event.
COVID-19 is still a major threat worldwide. Spain currently has an average of 12,000 new cases and 400 deaths per day. Although the situation could improve until June, people around the world will still be vulnerable to the disease. The vaccine’s launch in Spain is slow, with only about 65,000 doses administered per day. The majority of the population will still not be vaccinated in the summer if this pace continues.