COVID-19 Update: PLASA Offers Support to Members During Health Scare

	Plasa is working to provide the best support it can to its members at this difficult and uncertain time

Following the news of the postponement of Germany's Prolight+Sound exhibition and cancellation of Italy's Music Inside Rimini due to health concerns surrounding the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), PLASA has revealed that it "is monitoring the situation carefully and working to provide the best support it can to its members at this difficult and uncertain time."

With cases of the virus on the rise in the UK, there is understandable widespread concern about the spread of COVID-19. Currently, the UK government is still at the "Contain" phase, but could move to the next phase, "Delay," in the near future in a bid to help slow the spread of the virus. It remains unclear how this will impact large-scale events throughout the rest of the year. Already, the governments of Switzerland and France have banned public events of 1,000 people or more, including the Geneva Motor Show and various large-scale concert tours, whilst Italy entered a state of complete lockdown yesterday (March 9, 2020).

Organizations are rallying to ensure the needs of the industry are heard at government level. Plasa is representing members in the UK where a letter has been sent to both the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport and the Department for International Trade to arrange an urgent meeting to discuss the impact on the event and entertainment industries. Plasa will make the outcomes of this publicly available. Meanwhile, in Italy, the Centro Studi Doc organization has coordinated a support group and petition to the Italian government to support companies and freelancers affected by the emergency lockdown measures.

For further information, see the PLASA website: www.plasa.org/coronavirus.