More tech giants are pulling out of this year’s Mobile World Congress because of the coronavirus outbreak. Amazon is the latest tech company to announce that it’s withdrawing from MWC Barcelona 2020, following South Korea’s LG, US chipmaker Nvidia and Sweden’s Ericsson. MWC is the world’s largest mobile industry exhibition and takes place from February 24 to 27.
GSMA, the industry association that runs the MWC, said it’s “moving ahead as planned,” but it also stepped up health and safety measures. The organization said it’s not allowing travelers from China’s Hubei province to attend the exhibition, as it’s where the outbreak initially spread. Those who have been in China will also need to prove they’ve been outside the country for 14 days.
Other major tech companies have scaled back their presence at MWC. ZTE canceled a press conference and Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo all cut the number of staff attending the conference. Some companies already sent employees to Spain in fear of further restrictions on Chinese travelers.