Organizers of the Organization of American Historians' annual meeting claim they are monitoring COVID-19 closely through the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), having no current plans to cancel the 2020 OAH Annual Meeting scheduled to address the theme "(In) Equalities" (Washington DC, April 2–5).

https://www.oah.org/meetings-events/oah20/covid-19-statement/

Furthermore, the program committee forbids participants in the annual meeting from skyping into sessions. Yet the WHO Director-General, at a media briefing 5 March, underscores that the COVID-19 epidemic “can be pushed back... with a collective coordinated and comprehensive approach."

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/06/coronavirus-cases-surpass-100000-worldwide.html

The CDC's "Interim Guidance for Event Planners" responding to COVID-19 specifies three steps for organizers before "mass gatherings or large community events" (including conferences). One of the three is to: "plan alternative ways for participants to enjoy the events by television, radio, or online."

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/large-events/mass-gatherings-ready-for-covid-19.html

Furthermore, the CDC encourages older people and people with severe chronic medical conditions to "stay at home as much as possible" to protect themselves from exposure to COVID-19. Dr. William Schaffner, longtime adviser to the CDC, told CNN 7 March, "people over 60, and those with underlying health problems, such as heart or lung disease, diabetes, or compromised immune systems" should consider avoiding travel by airplane, and large crowds.

http://lite.cnn.com/en/article/h_8737cd352bff6502258ccc33f6564cf0

Acknowledging three confirmed cases of in Montgomery County, Maryland, the OAH has 7,800 members in the U.S. and outside the U.S., including archivists, college and university professors of history, corporate historians, museum curators, pre-collegiate teachers of history, public historians, and students of history. The 2019's annual meeting program included more than 150 pages of panels, lectures, and events.

https://patch.com/maryland/rockville/coronavirus-update-elrich-update-community-confirmed-cases

Update 9 March: The CDC currently recommends that, "Older adults and travelers with underlying health issues should avoid situations that put them at increased risk for more severe disease. This entails avoiding crowded places, avoiding non-essential travel such as long plane trips..."

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/covid-19-cruise-ship