IT Show among major events postponed

IN light of uncertainties from the novel coronavirus outbreak, the organiser of Singapore's IT Show, Food & Beverage Fair, BuildTech Asia and CARGONOW has postponed the four events (see amendment note) until further notice.

The popular IT Show 2020 was supposed to take place on March 12-15 at the Suntec Convention Centre. The annual event is one of the largest consumer electronics exhibitions in the Republic.

The Food & Beverage Fair, a consumer exhibition that showcases Asian flavours from more than 200 exhibitors and products, had been scheduled for March 19-22 at the Singapore Expo.

Meanwhile, building and construction trade show BuildTech Asia, as well as supply chain and logistics expo CARGONOW, had been set to take place on March 11-13 at the Singapore Expo.

The organiser, Sphere Exhibits, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings, which publishes The Business Times.

In a media statement on Tuesday, Sphere Exhibits said it is delaying the events after considering the safety and health concerns of the exhibitors, partners and the public.

It will announce the new event dates when they are available.

Last week, Sphere Exhibits told BT that it had lost a handful of exhibitors from China for three events in February and March - including the IT Show and BuildTech Asia - and that some local exhibitors were also considering pulling out. At that time, Sphere Exhibits had yet to make a decision on whether to push back the events and how to compromise in terms of penalties, if any.

Meanwhile, two suspected cases of the novel coronavirus emerged early this week at Suntec City and OUE Downtown.

At Suntec City, property manager APM Property Management was alerted to a suspected case on Monday at around 11am.

Deputy chairman of APM Property Management, Anthony Yip, said: "Our Crisis Response Team was immediately activated to assist in escorting the individual to the ambulance pick-up point via a designated route with minimal public exposure." He added that the affected areas were immediately disinfected and sanitised.

The property manager has also intensified its precautionary measures in line with Ministry of Health guidelines, such as increasing the frequency of cleaning and sanitisation of common and high-touch areas, temperature checks of visitors, office tower occupiers and service and management staff as well as getting visitors to Suntec's office towers to sign a health-declaration form.

And according to a circular addressed to tenants at OUE Downtown seen by BT, an individual suspected of having the novel coronavirus required medical attention at about 12.30pm on Monday. After visiting a clinic at the building in Shenton Way, an individual was transported to the necessary medical attention in an ambulance and is said to be presently quarantined at home.

Landlord OUE has stepped up cleaning and sanitisation of the building, and is carrying out temperature screening at the building's lobby before tenants can access their offices, Patrina Tan, senior vice-president (retail) of OUE Ltd, said.

Amendment note: An earlier version of this story stated that three events have been postponed instead of four. Sphere Exhibits has since clarified that BuildTech Asia and CARGONOW are separate events, and the article above has been revised to reflect this.

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