Geneva motor show ‘will take place as scheduled’ despite coronavirus concerns

The Geneva motor show will go ahead as planned next week despite the first reported case of coronavirus in Switzerland.

Show organisers have emailed a statement to attendees to say they have met with senior staff at Palexpo, the exhibition centre that’s hosting the show, to make a decision based on the latest information provided to them.

They have been in contact with the general directorate of health of the republic and canton of Geneva’s medical advisor, with the advice being that the show can open as planned.

However, with areas of nearby Italy quarantined and the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Switzerland, organisers have ‘developed an action plan that can be adapted as necessary in real time’ and will ‘continue to monitor and reassess the situation regularly’.

Earlier this week, Geneva International Motor Show managing director Olivier Rihs told the PA news agency that a decision to close the show could be taken up until the morning of the event, and throughout its run, but that currently “everything is going ahead as planned”.

He added: “The advice from the authorities here in Geneva is that the show can continue – and they are the only ones who can say yes or no to the show going ahead. We have had no exhibitors pull out. They are all here and building their stands.”

The motor show attracts 600,000 visitors each year from around the world. The 2020 show opens to the press on Tuesday March 3, with public days beginning March 5.