2020 APS March Meeting (in Denver) canceled

[robphy]

https://march.aps.org/

 

[Dishsoap]

Despite the 5+ "Please don't shake hands at March meeting!" e-mails, I really didn't see this coming. I pity all of the attendees who have already started to travel to the meeting - especially those traveling internationally.

The cost of canceled travel/stays is almost definitely in the millions (or tens...) - where does the responsibility fall? Obviously APS will not be reimbursing everyone... the universities? The individuals?

 

[russ_watters]

Wow, that's just next week. That seems like an overreaction to me.

 

[hutchphd]

It would only take one participant to test positive!...two untraced cases in Mountain View (maybe Palo Alto?) CA as of today...frankly I think it is already inevitable but the optics would be really bad...

 

[Mary Conrads Sanburn]

Can I add this :

Facebook cancels its annual developer conference amid Coronavirus outbreak

PUBLISHED THU, FEB 27 20201:05 PM ESTUPDATED THU, FEB 27 20202:25
Facebook on Thursday announced its decision to cancel its annual F8 software developer conference due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak.

The conference was scheduled to take place on May 5 and 6 in McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California. Around 5,000 people attended last year’s event, a company spokeswoman told CNBC.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/27/fac...per-conference-amid-coronavirus-outbreak.html

 

[robphy]

Wow, that's just next week. That seems like an overreaction to me.

I heard many attendees were canceling during this past week.

 

[atyy]

Cancelling sounds like a prudent decision to me.

 

[robphy]

UPDATE:

https://march.aps.org/about/coronavirus

Meeting Cancellation
It is with deep regret that we are informing you of the cancellation of the 2020 APS March Meeting in Denver, Colorado. APS leadership has been monitoring the spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) constantly. The decision to cancel was based on the latest scientific data being reported, and the fact that a large number of attendees at this meeting are coming from outside the US, including countries where the CDC upgraded its warning to level 3 as recently as Saturday, February 29.

Please wait for APS staff to be in touch with you in order to arrange for a full refund of your registration fees. The situation with hotels is more complicated, and we ask your forbearance as APS looks into what is possible regarding hotel cancellation fees. Please check the March Meeting website in several days or a week for further information.

We recognize that the timing of this decision has significantly inconvenienced many of you. However, this decision was made out of deep concern for the health and well-being of our registrants, staff, vendors, and the Denver community.

 

[hutchphd]

Wow, that's just next week. That seems like an overreaction to me.

I hope it is not Xenophobic to point out the relatively high number of native chinese physics grad students (who are of an age to be highly mobile) likely to attend the March meeting. It would also factor into my decision whether to attend I think.

Does this count as an Act of God for legal purposes?

 

[Vanadium 50]

Because of US visa issues and the reduced travel within and from China, Chinese graduate students may not be as mobile as you think.

I am not a lawyer, but I do not think this would be considered an Act of God. There are diseases with known higher risks that did not provoke a cancellation, so it will be hard to argue that the APS had no choice. Presumably they had insurance to cover paying for the venue.

 

[Dr Transport]

prudent move, given the woefully pathetic response from the us govt and their subsequent actions.

 

[Ygggdrasil]

I hope it is not Xenophobic to point out the relatively high number of native chinese physics grad students (who are of an age to be highly mobile) likely to attend the March meeting. It would also factor into my decision whether to attend I think.

Note that since Feb 2, the US has banned entry into the US of any foreigners who had been in China in the prior 14 days. Therefore, any Chinese grad students currently in the US have not been in China for at least two weeks (and more likely > 1 month), and are no more likely to have the Coronavirus than any other group in the US.

However, there is widespread sustained transmission of the virus in South Korea and Italy, and the US has not instituted travel restrictions on those nations (currently, entry restrictions are only in place for China and Iran).

 

[Astronuc]

Postponements are happening with other conferences.

NACE International’s annual conference and expo CORROSION 2020, scheduled to take place in Houston, March 15-19 is POSTPONED until June 14-18, 2020. Usually people attend from around the world.

An email went out last week, two weeks before the conference! NACE indicated, "Following the recent reports of six cases of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in the Houston area, the NACE Board of Directors voted tonight to postpone our annual CORROSION 2020 conference and expo until June 14-18, 2020."

 

[robphy]

(Bolding mine)... maybe this needs its own thread...https://april.aps.org/

Registration is now open for the APS Virtual April Meeting, which will be held online April 18–21, 2020. Attendance is free of charge and open to both APS members and non-members, but registration is required to attend. If you previously registered for the 2020 April Meeting you will need to register again.

Details of the program...

https://april.aps.org/program
https://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR20/APS_epitome

 

[Astronuc]

Many meetings of various scientific and technical societies scheduled for March and April were postponed until June. Now I'm starting to see 'virtual' meetings since the current situation is indeterminate.

 

[robphy]

The APS meeting started this morning.
Although there are some glitches, I am impressed and happy that they got the meeting together in this virtual format. A glitch in one session led to a Zoom meeting where folks are presenting.

(Registration is free... but you have to register in order to view any of the sessions.)