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The Good News About COVID-19
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Good news? Is there any good news about coronavirus, which threatens to grind our industry to a halt? Believe
it or not, there is.
Over the past few weeks, the NMG content team has become a de facto wire service about COVID-19. Our
extensive coverage
is not focused on the number of cases or related deaths – that’s easy to find. What has been harder to communicate is that fear and uncertainty – not the virus itself – is what’s driving a crisis for the meetings and travel industry.
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Let's look at some facts:
• To date, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention does NOT have a coronavirus-related travel health notice for the United States
and considers it safe to travel and meet here and in many other destinations. As of today, CDC is advising against unnecessary travel to China, Iran, Italy and South Korea ONLY.
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• A plane is NOT a flying petri dish. The CDC specifies in its
recommendations for travel:
"Because of how air circulates and is filtered on airplanes, most viruses and other germs do not spread easily on airplanes."
• The World Health Organization
advises AGAINST travel restrictions: "Travel bans to affected areas or denial of entry to passengers coming from affected areas are usually not effective in preventing the importation of cases but may have a significant economic and social impact."
• You're MUCH more likely to get the flu — even die from it – than COVID-19. About 1 billion people contract seasonal flu each year, resulting in an estimated 646,000 deaths annually. Let me digress here: During the 2018-19 flu season, vaccination prevented
an estimated 4.4 million illnesses, 58,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations and 3,500 deaths,
per CDC statistics.
Yet, only 49 percent of Americans get vaccinated. If a vaccine for COVID-19 becomes available, will you get it? Meanwhile, it's not too late to get the seasonal flu shot, and it's statistically more important than any worries about coronavirus.
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Making a Case for Meetings
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What we need to cure immediately is the growing misperception that it is not safe to travel or meet. And the meetings industry is on it!
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• This is the kind of crisis for which the
Meetings Mean Business Coalition
was created. The 64-member organization — all leading industry suppliers including major hotel companies, convention and visitor bureaus and others — endorsed an
open letter
to the meetings industry this week emphasizing that "anyone hosting or attending a meeting in the U.S. may proceed as planned. "MMBC's coronavirus preparedness
toolkit
is packed with industry-specific messaging and materials, including talking points, template press materials and sample social media content.
• Just yesterday morning, the Society of Independent Show Organizers and UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, launched
"This Show Is Open,"
a joint campaign aimed at helping their members make the case for following through with event plans. You'll find banners, logos, posters and statements about why you're staying the course, all of which can be customized for your event.
• This graphic,
developed based on information from WHO, CDC, Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Medical School, summarizes some of these facts for the public, and lists trusted resources for the most current information.
It is absolutely vital that we in our industry set an example by making fact-based decisions. "Members of the travel industry need to consider the importance of the behavior we demonstrate in response to this situation," said Tom Kemp, CEO of Northstar Travel
Group, in an internal meeting this week. "Northstar will continue to participate in industry events and will proceed with its own events following the guidelines of the leading authorities, while taking all the precautions advised."
My hope is that everyone in our industry will make the same commitment.
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What’s on your agenda that we should know about? Let
me know!
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Loren G. Edelstein
Vice President, Content Director
Northstar Meetings Group
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Northstar Travel Group
100 Lighting Way
Secaucus NJ 07094
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