Cancellations follow confirmation of coronavirus infection in one European Defence Agency staff member
The European Defence Agency, European Space Agency and European Patent Office have cancelled meetings and restricted visits to limit transmission of the potentially lethal coronavirus among staff and the public.
The EDA announced on 4 March that it had cancelled all meetings held at its premises and told staff not to attend external events until after 13 March, following a staff member testing positive for the virus.
That person and other agency staff who had direct contact with them have been put in self-isolation for two weeks, the EDA said, adding that its office and meeting facilities had been disinfected.
The EPO said on the same day that it had postponed all its events involving more than 50 people, and told staff not to travel on EPO business, during March and April. Those who had recently travelled to affected areas have been asked not to visit the EPO’s offices.
ESA said on 5 March that it was assessing whether planned events should be cancelled or postponed, and that from 9 March external visitors would be permitted only for business meetings and only in accordance with specific instructions.
The moves come after the European Parliament put in place limits on external visitors, while events such as the annual conferences of the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations and the American Physical Society were cancelled.
In its 4 March update, the World Health Organization put the total number of confirmed cases of infection with the novel coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease at more than 93,000 globally, and the number of deaths at more than 3,000.
A version of this article also appeared in Research Fortnight