PLEASE SIGN & SHARE THIS PETITION AND LEAVE A COMMENT TO STOP THE SPACE SYMPOSIUM & ALL OTHER MAJOR EVENTS IN COLORADO SPRINGS

We also recommend you take a second to send even just a short email stating something as simple as:  Please cancel and reschedule the Space Symposium and other major events in Colorado.  This issue is of statewide concern; each city has an ability to impact us all, and we should all be considering the local as well as the potential statewide impact of Coronavirus outbreaks from large events especially with global attendees.  Use the email list below which is important for accountability and transparency.  Just copy/paste, type a sentence and send.  Easy.

Send to:  senatorpetelee@gmail.com, senbobgardner@comcast.net, stanvanderwerf@elpasoco.com, HollyWilliams@elpasoco.com, MarkWaller@ElPasoCo.com, LonginosGonzalezJr@elpasoco.com, CamiBremer@elpasoco.com, media@spacefoundation.org, allcouncil@springsgov.com, savecheyennemountain@gmail.com, krdonews@krdo.com, news@koaa.com, news@kktv.com, news@fox21news.com, savecheyennemountain@gmail.com, zubeck@csindy.com, desk@9news.com, newstips@thedenverchannel.com, KCNCnews@cbs.com, tips@kdvr.com, newsroom@denverpost.com, newsroom@coloradosun.com 

We do not believe people should overreact to the Coronavirus; however, we do believe we can and should take prudent actions to significantly curb the spread/outbreak of the virus. The trend is clear.  Major events are being cancelled all over the world and, now, across the US to curb spread and avoid outbreaks of COVID-19.  Colleges are cancelling their study abroad programs.  Italy has closed all its schools until mid-March.  There are so many logical reasons.

Here are just a few events which have recently been cancelled:

1.  American Physical Society, 3/2-3/6 in Denver cancelled 3 days before the event by the APS. 

“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 U.S.,” including countries where the coronavirus is circulating and for which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised people to avoid nonessential travel, the APS statement says. “[T]his decision was made out of deep concern for the health and well-being of our registrants, staff, vendors, and the Denver community.”  10,000 people attend from many countries.  

2.  SXSW in Austin.  3/13-3/22.  Cancelled by the Mayor of Austin.

“Based on the recommendation of our public health officer and our director of public health . . . I’ve gone ahead and declared a local disaster in the city and associated with that, have issued an order that effectively cancels SXSW,” said Austin Mayor Steve Adler. Interim health authority for Austin Dr. Mark Escott said that there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Travis County, but called the cancellation a “proactive step in preparing this community for this storm.”  400,000 people attend.  A loss of $325 million in revenues.

3.  The Women's World Hockey Championships in Halifax/Truro by the International Ice Hockey Federation, Nova Scoatia (Canada).  It was set to open on 3/31.

"It is with great regret that we must take this action," René Fasel, IIHF president, said in a statement. "It was not an easy decision to make, as we were greatly looking forward to hosting this tournament in Canada. Nevertheless, the decision has been made due to safety concerns for the well-being of players, officials and spectators."  At the time of the cancellation (and still as of this writing, 3/7), there was no confirmed COVID-2019 case in Nova Scotia.

4.  The World Bank & the IMF Annual Convening in Washington, DC has been cancelled. Set to take place 4/13-4/19.

“Like everyone else around the world, we have been deeply concerned by the evolving situation of the coronavirus and the human tragedy surrounding it,” Georgieva and Malpass said.  At the time of the cancellation, DC had zero COVID-2019 cases.

5.  The Facebook Global Marketing Summit in San Francisco was set to take place in March has been cancelled by Facebook.

"Our priority is the health and safety of our teams, so out of an abundance of caution, we cancelled our Global Marketing Summit due to evolving public health risks related to coronavirus," a Facebook spokesman said in an email to MarketWatch late Friday. The marketing summit was to take place next month in San Francisco. Previously, Facebook dropped out of Mobile World Congress, one of the largest and best-known telecommunications conferences in the world, for the same reason, leading to the show's cancellation. 5,000 people attend.  Revenues not reported.

6.  Mobile World Conference in Barcelona cancelled their event on 2/12, just 10 days prior to the event, which was scheduled for 2/24-2/27

“The GSMA has cancelled MWC Barcelona 2020 because the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern and other circumstances, make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event,” CEO John Hoffman said in a statement.  At the time, the entire country of Spain had only 1 confirmed cased.  By 2/24, they had sourced 5 from the Italy outbreak.  To compare, the US has more deaths, 17, as of this writing, 3/7, than Spain, 10, and 500 confirmed infections to our 424.  Can you imagine how bad it would be had they not cancelled the conference?  100,000 people attend.  A loss of $513 million in revenues.

7.  CERAWeek Energy Conference in Houston was set to take place 3/9-13 was cancelled by IHF Markit, the governing body.

Our number one concern is the health and safety of delegates and speakers, our partners, our colleagues and vendors. We have spent the last several weeks focused on this question, established a medical partnership with Houston Methodist Hospital, have been in continuing dialogue with experts on infectious disease, and established an extensive protocol. But the spread of COVID-19 is moving quickly around the world.  At the time, Houston had no confirmed COVID-19 cases.  5,500 people attend from 80 countries.  Jason Draper, an associate professor at the University of Houston's Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management said, "...it will likely have only a short-term impact on local businesses.  And the costs of not canceling could have been worse."

8.  NBA Cancels Basketball Season

The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice," it added. "The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.

 9.  Google I/O Developer Conference cancelled by Google was set to take place in March.

In general, these conferences were cancelled based upon guidance from local health officials, the CDC and WHO.  Here's what Google said:  Due to concerns around the coronavirus (COVID-19), and in accordance with health guidance from the CDC, WHO, and other health authorities, we have decided to cancel the physical Google I/O event.  The city of Milan has quarantine sections of the city that are currently being guarded by the national military.  Keep up with the latest global & US spread here.

The Space Symposium attracts 11,000 attendees from 120 countries globally.  

What do we know?  Here's what China did (President Xi Jingpin is no dummy.  He earned a Chemical Engineering degree from Tshinghua University.  China also has some of the world's top virologists and has experience with SARS):

• Quarantined 50,000,000 people completely shutting down all travel into/and out of major cities like Wuhan with a population of 11 million people (an unprecedented measure)
• Cancelled their New Years Festivals countrywide (an unprecedented measure)
• Infused 600 billion new yuan bills and took old bills of physical currency out of circulation to clean them with UV lights and chemicals (an unprecedented measure)
• They created 20 quarantine centers and 11 temporary hospitals  with up to 1,000-1,300 beds each. (an unprecedented measure)  

In spite of these radical steps, China has reached over 80,000 infections in 3 months and continues to suffer new infections with 3,000 people dying as of this writing, 3/7.  CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW BAD IT WOULD BE IF CHINA HAD NOT CANCELLED EVENTS/QUARANTINED?  Italy has experienced a dramatic surge over a 2 week period bringing their death totals up to 200, as of 3/7.  They have immediately created quarantine zones and cancelled events in the city to try and curb the outbreak.  Pretty much the entire world is taking prudent and extreme steps to stop the spread.

"It's just like the flu.  We can't stop it.":

When in modern history have countries quarantined entire cities because of the flu?  In fact, the CDC just updated their concerns stating we are not taking strict enough action.  Entire school districts are being closed.  While we don't advocate panic, it's troubling to equate the Coronavirus to the garden variety flu which implies we should accept the inevitability of it.  Just because it's spreading in the US, does not mean we should throw up our hands and let it run its course just like the flu. Here's an interview with CDC head Dr. Fauci discussing the differences between COVID-19 and the flu?

Please sign and share the petition and write that one sentence email.