With the postponement of this weekend’s Mido exhibition in Milan, Coronavirus and its seemingly unstoppable spread is now a little too close to home.
I made the decision not to attend Mido a couple of weeks ago and I don’t think I will have been alone in making that choice. Although the chances of catching coronavirus at the event were small, why would anyone open themselves up to additional risk? I’m not particularly worried about the effects of the virus, but the thought of a potential quarantine period didn’t sit that well with me.
More so than other optical trade shows, Mido is truly global – the vast space taken up by Asian exhibitors is testament to this. The organisers’ decision to close the Far East Pavilion in an effort to stop people from the affected regions coming to the show seemed like a good thing to do, but would it have worked? I don’t think so.
It’s reasonable to assume that factory owners and staff from China would have wanted to limit the impact of not being able to officially attend the show. So instead of a congregation of Asian exhibitors at the show, there would have been a network of satellite meetings in hotels in the surrounding areas – which could have made the spread of the virus even worse.
Postponing the event was the right thing to do, but, in my opinion, the window in which to do so effectively and fairly was in the first half February – when the Asia pavilion closure will have been discussed.
The May or June proposed dates for the rescheduled event also seem surprising, given the world doesn’t yet know what the full extent of the outbreak will be. Does anyone feel confident the virus will have been brought under control by then? Even if it can be controlled, the damage to supply chains has already been done and that’s something the industry will be feeling for a long time yet.