E3 in June became the latest conference to cancel its plans due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
The largest gaming conference in the United States was to be held June 9-11 in Los Angeles. Certain press conferences planned for the week of E3, though, like Xbox-related announcements, will continue as a digital event. We’ll have our own announcement about a digital event related to E3 in the coming weeks.
E3 has always been an important moment for Team Xbox. Given this decision, this year we'll celebrate the next generation of gaming with the @Xbox community and all who love to play via an Xbox digital event. Details on timing and more in the coming weeks https://t.co/xckMKBPf9h
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) March 11, 2020
Mobile World Congress, F8, Google I/O and more events have been cancelled in recent weeks as health officials and event planners grapple with safety and the potential spread of COVID-19. The Game Developers Conference, which was to be held next week in San Francisco, was tentatively postponed till later in the year.
A number of companies are instituting work-from-home policies to protect employees and slow the spread of the disease, and production was impacted for both Valve Index and Oculus Quest.
The World Health Organization includes the following recommendations in its advice to protect yourself:
Wash your hands frequently
Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.
Why? Washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses that may be on your hands.
Maintain social distancing
Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
Why?When someone coughs or sneezes they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets, including the COVID-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease.
Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth
Why? Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and can make you sick.
