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Law360 (March 5, 2020, 4:20 PM EST ) Cable industry organizers on Thursday called off a planned three-day conference in Washington, D.C., due to concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak, as the Federal Communications Commission separately implemented cautionary measures to minimize the spread of the virus.
ACA Connects said it is halting its annual policy summit, originally slated to take place March 17-19 in downtown D.C., to do "its part to help the global health community combat the spread of the coronavirus."
FCC Commissioners Michael O'Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel had been scheduled to speak at the show, which was expecting about 280 attendees.
"We really thought we could make a go of it, even earlier this week," the group's president, Matthew M. Polka, said in a statement. "But our priority is the health and safety of our ACA Connects members and all other attendees at the event. And as we gathered and evaluated more information from the CDC and other expert sources about the health effects of the coronavirus and the implications of its spread in the U.S. — including on travel and access to federal offices in Washington, D.C. — we knew it was the right decision for our attendees to change course and postpone the summit."
The FCC itself announced "new measures to protect the health of its staff" on Wednesday, saying that visitors who recently visited COVID-19 hotspots — China, Iran, Italy and South Korea for now — are barred from the agency's facilities. Staffers and contractors who fall into that category are being asked to remain at home.
The FCC said it's also canceling all "non-critical FCC domestic and international travel," as well as participation in "non-critical large gatherings that involve participants from across the country and/or around the world."
"The Chairman's Office, in consultation with the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, the Office of Managing Director, and Office of General Counsel, will continue to monitor developments and will implement additional precautions (or relax current precautions) should circumstances warrant," the FCC's public notice said.
The shuttered cable trade show marks at least the second telecom conference canceled due to concerns about the virus currently sweeping the globe. In mid-February, organizers called off Mobile World Congress, the massive wireless trade show in Barcelona.
Organizers had toyed with limiting participation in the show to people who hadn't recently been to China, where the virus first appeared, but they shut it down altogether after key vendors canceled their appearances.
As of Thursday, the National Association of Broadcasters said it still plans to proceed with its trade show in Las Vegas next month, which usually includes more than 90,000 attendees. It remains unclear whether there will be FCC cancellations that could affect the schedule and turnout, but FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is still listed as a keynote speaker.
A person familiar with the matter indicated that no final decisions are being made as to the show or the FCC's involvement, as many factors are likely to change in the next few weeks.
--Editing by Nicole Bleier.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
