The deputy chief medical officer has informed the UK live event industry that despite fears regarding the coronavirus, there is no reason to shut down events.

In the current climate, there will be no ban on live events and other large-scale mass gatherings in the UK. Instead, The World Health Organisation (WHO) have released a nine-page document detailing what steps event organisers should take to prevent the spread of the virus at their events.

On 2 March, the deputy chief medical officer (CMO), Jonathan Van-Tam, said in a conference call with event organisers that there was “no clear rationale” for closing events in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, despite events being banned in Switzerland, Italy and France.

Van-Tam explained that, based on current predictions of virus’s spread, stopping events is not necessary. He added that the primary places of infection are the workplace, schools and the home. He also noted that pubs and public transport were more likely to be a source of transmission, due to the virus having a relatively small radius of infection (two metres).

He also informed those on the call that the government will monitor the situation as it unfolds, gleaning evidence from individual cases. Additionally, UK health secretary Matt Hancock says that if the disease “becomes established in the UK”, further measures may be necessary including school closure, home working and reducing large-scale gatherings.

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