Promoters cancel, delay events over virus threat

Concerts, book signings, fan meets and other public events scheduled in Metro Manila this month have either been cancelled or moved to a later date as a precaution against the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

In a statement on Thursday, “Tuesday with Morrie” author Mitch Albom promised to “honor my promise to visit the Philippines as soon as possible” after his book-signing events on Feb. 15 and 16 at malls in Mandaluyong and Muntinlupa cities were called off. New York Times bestselling author Jen Sincero’s book signing and talk were also canceled. The author of the “You are a Badass” self-help series was originally scheduled to sign books on Feb. 19 in Taguig City. Fully Booked said in a statement that this was due to the travel ban which affected her flights.

Netflix also scrapped a fanmeet with Lana Condor and Noah Centineo, the stars of the movie “To All The Boys: PS I Still Love You.” The event was supposed to be held on Feb. 15 at a mall in Makati City.

A fan party hosted by Nature Republic for EXO-Ls (EXO’s fandom) has also been called off. Some members of the Kpop group EXO were supposed to arrive in the country on Feb. 22 as the brand’s ambassadors.

Precautionary measure

Also canceled was the fan meet for Ong Seong-wu, former member of the K-pop group, Wanna One, who was supposed to hold his first solo event on Feb. 25 at Araneta Coliseum. DNM Entertainment explained that the move was a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of Ong and the Welos (fandom name of Ong).

Promoters of other big-ticket events, however, opted to reschedule their activities.

The concert of the cast of Korean show “Running Man” has been moved to June 21 from the original Feb. 9 schedule.

The Manila leg of the 98 Degrees tour, a 90s pop group, set on Feb. 15 at SM MOA Arena in Pasay City, was moved to May 21, according to its local promoter Big Hit Productions.

On Wednesday, electronics company Acer announced that the Asia-Pacific Predator League 2020 online games tournament would be held either in June or July, instead of Feb. 19 to 23, because of the 2019-nCoV scare. The event was expected to gather around 20,000 attendees in Pasay City.

“[The event is] postponed in the interest of the health and wellbeing of the tournament’s competitors, spectators and staff during this period,” Acer said.

Other big ticket events in Pasay City, however, would push through after Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano assured residents and event-goers that the city government and organizers had set up safety measures against the virus.

One of these was K-pop band Seventeen’s concert on Feb. 8, also at SM MOA Arena. Happee Sy-Go, vice president of concert promoter Pulp Live World, said that preventive measures were already in place.

Security, medical checks

Concert goers would be required to pass security and medical checks before being allowed entry into the venue.

Inside the arena, patrons would have access to several alcohol stations.

According to Go, they would be bringing in 80 Koreans for the concert. “All of their passports were checked. Those in the lineup who had traveled to China were [replaced] and the [Bureau of Immigration] already cleared them all,” she said.