The Emerald City Comic Con, which has been an annual event in Seattle, Washington since 2003, is the latest event to be affected by a coronavirus outbreak. Effective from March 12 – 15, senior publishers are leaving the event at the last minute due to concerns about workers' health. Now ECCC organizers have announced that the meeting itself will be postponed, and the money given to ticket buyers.
"We have been vigilantly monitoring the COVID-19 virus in Seattle," said a statement on the ECCC website, "and after numerous discussions inside and liaising with local government officials and the tourist office, we have decided to move the Emerald City Comic Con next week to the summer of 2020 We have done our best to run the event as planned, but in the end, we are following the lead by public health officials who suggest that meetings should now be postponed. ”
Redpop, the parent company of the ECCC, says it will issue refunds to all ticket holders in the next 30 days.
On Tuesday, DC Comics announced that it would end all appearances at comic book conventions throughout March, including the ECCC. DC is without a doubt the biggest comic publisher to pull off the convention; Big Two's partner, Marvel Comics, was not scheduled to attend this year.
Horse Comics also made the decision to pay homage to the ECCC, with plans to return for the upcoming 2021 convention.
It is important # ECCC2020 Note: Due to the sensitive nature of the COVID-19 virus, Dark Horse Comics has made the difficult decision to release Emerald City Comic Con 2020. It's about the safety and well-being of our employees and creators in the mind we have. come to this decision. 1/2
– Black Comedy Horses (@DarkHorseComics) March 3, 2020
Star Wars publisher Del Rey participated in the decision, acknowledging the importance of fans' meetings, but also pointing to concerns about the situation.
Penguin Random House has come to a difficult decision to cancel its participation in the ECCC due to concerns around the coronavirus. While the exhibition is an important way for our staff and writers to interact with readers, everyone's health and safety takes priority.
– Del Rey Books (@DelReyBooks) March 3, 2020
On Friday, Vault Comics announced it was withdrawing its process, even though its media had not raised concerns about the coronavirus.
"For fans everywhere, including those who will remember them at the ECCC," said a Vault spokeswoman, "Vault operates a special event that will include makers, limited merchandise, and exclusive sales, and will give fans an opportunity to speak directly to the Vault team." More details on the actual events are expected. to be announced in the coming days.
Emerald City staff first issued a statement assuring fans that the program will continue to monitor, while "regularly reviewing our health care services, public health messages, hygiene and health controls in an effort to strengthen our COVID-19 response more in line with timely public advice and advice, including CDC. ”
Reedpop's Friday statement emphasized that the company is "eager and committed to running the Emerald City Comic Con in 2020 and is working closely with Visit Seattle and the Washington State Convention Center to get more dates in the summer. you are an equally amazing event. ”
China began reporting cases of the novel coronavirus to the World Health Organization in late December. In accordance with The latest Vox.com update, there are more than 92,000 confirmed cases of the virus worldwide, with outbreaks on the continent of China, South Korea, Iran and Italy. Since the explosion was noticed, there have been 100 cases reported in the United States. As of March 4, there have been 27 cases of coronavirus deaths and nine deaths due to an outbreak in Washington.
In late February, the programmers postponed the groundbreaking 2020 Game Developers conference following the withdrawal of many people, including Sony, Microsoft, Epic, and Blizzard. The 2020 SXSW Festival also finds major companies canceling plans to attend the event, with Facebook and Amazon both releasing in just a few weeks. In connection with the report, the ECCC has not announced plans to cancel the event.