
Ericsson pulls out of major Barcelona conference over coronavirus - pabo
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-mobileworld-ericsson-idUSKBN2011D5
======
edent
I can understand why. I've been to MWC a couple of times. I always took
several bottles of hand-sanitiser for personal use, and made sure that our
booth was well stocked.

In an environment like that, you're shaking hands with hundreds of people per
day and touching phone screens used by thousands. I lost count of the people
(of all nationalities) who didn't wash their hands after using the toilets.

Even if the world wasn't in the grip of a respiratory pandemic, conferences
like this are a health hazard.

~~~
Angostura
>Even if the world wasn't in the grip of a respiratory pandemic

It hasn't been declared a pandemic yet - Pandemics require home-grown native
infective populations in multiple countries, I believe.

~~~
bordercases
How many countries?

[https://coronavirus.zone/](https://coronavirus.zone/)

The virus is more lethal than SARS was on the same timeframe.

~~~
marcosdumay
You are missing the "home-grown" part.

The virus seems to only be spreading through China, plus, maybe HK. Everywhere
else it's still contained.

~~~
billfruit
People have been infected locally in Thailand, and by reports one of the UK
persons infected got it in Singapore, so the case may be that it isn't
contained in other countries as well.

------
not_a_moth
Limited data, but there are now several confirmed cases in different countries
traced to a small business conference in Singapore[1]. I think there's no
question the barcelona conference would have spread the virus, where there's
evidence it's transmissible without symptoms not to mention a long incubation
period. I guess the calculation should be based on severity of illness, is it
another H1N1 or is it the 1918 spanish flu? I can't really tell based on
current data.

[1] [https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/coronavirus-gas-
analy...](https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/coronavirus-gas-analysis-
conference-at-grand-hyatt-singapore-hotel-linked-to-infections)

~~~
ibeckermayer
“I can’t really tell based on current data”

So then one should assume it’s the Spanish Flu. If there’s some nontrivial
risk of massive destruction, better to be “paranoid” early than too late to do
anything to stop it.

~~~
trishankdatadog
Do you follow @nntaleb?

------
LinuxBender
I think that is a smart move. There are a lot of people at conventions and the
last time I interacted with Ericsson they seemed to have a lot of smokers.
Smokers may be at even higher risk. [1]

[1] -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT3_A1bf9pU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT3_A1bf9pU)

~~~
throwanem
People who smoke or vape are typically at higher risk for any kind of airborne
pathogen, yeah. (smoked for a couple decades, still trying to kick this stupid
Juul)

~~~
stronglikedan
Ditch the Juul and get something that allows you to gradually step down the
nicotine level. Also something non-nic-salt - it's the nic-salts that make
Juuls even more addictive. Don't stop until you have been on 0mg nicotine for
at least two weeks, then you only have to worry about the physical, hand-to-
mouth habit when you put it down for good.

I'm doing this with a Uwell Caliburn Pod, since it's similar in form factor to
the Juul, but refillable with regular juice. I'm down to 1mg juice, and
planning on going to zero next week. I know it works because I've done it
before.

~~~
throwanem
Sounds like a solid play, thanks. Is there a similarly graduated prefilled pod
option that doesn't require investing in refill gear for something that I'm
not trying to make a hobby out of? Failing that, what's a good, simple setup
for doing refills?

~~~
stronglikedan
Yeah, refills kinda suck, and I do miss prefills, but the concession had to be
made.

I don't know if there's a prefill option out there that I missed, but I
couldn't find one.

I just get a big bottle of whatever level I'm on, and a big bottle of the same
flavor in 0mg, and mix them as needed into a smaller, pocket-sized bottle.
You'll want to get a bottle with a thin tip, so it will fit into the refill
hole, like one of these: [https://www.amazon.com/Unicorn-Plastic-Resistant-
Evident-Mul...](https://www.amazon.com/Unicorn-Plastic-Resistant-Evident-
Multicolor/dp/B01MTQH4M3)

Also, make sure to stock up on the pod replacements, since they always seem to
burn out at the most inopportune time.

EDIT: Just wanted to reiterate my point on the salts. Salts work in this
device too. Salts are great! Unfortunatly, that makes them much harder to
quit, so I would avoid them if you do transition.

------
blackrock
It appears that this coronavirus leads to pneumonia and other second
complications, which is what actually kills you.

In theory, it is possible that because a lot of people smoke or vape in China,
that they have reduced lung functionality. So when the coronavirus proceeds to
the pneumonia stage, that your unhealthy lungs will have a more difficult time
fighting off the infection. Then the virus proceeds to attacking your other
organs, and they start failing. And from this, you die.

The moral of the story: Kids don’t smoke or vape. It might not immediately
kill you, but it will increase your chances of dying if you catch the flu, or
if your health complications turns into pneumonia and leads to other internal
failures.

Again: This is only a theory.

~~~
Alex3917
> In theory, it is possible that because a lot of people smoke or vape in
> China, that they have reduce lung functionality.

Smokers have more ACE2 receptors, which is what this virus targets. As they
get closer to death and their blood oxygen levels drop, I have no doubt that
having damaged lungs doesn't help their chances, but the reason smokers are
more at risk goes beyond this.

~~~
eindiran
Source? Because this suggests the opposite:

[https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/ajpregu.0009...](https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/ajpregu.00099.2018)

"The literature presented in this review strongly suggests that nicotine
alters the homeostasis of the RAS by ... downregulating the compensatory
ACE2/ANG-(1–7)/Mas receptor axis."

"In primary cultures of neurons and glial cells isolated from brainstem and
hypothalamus of 1-day-old rats, nicotine treatment resulted in increased
expression of AT 1 R but decreased expression of ACE2."

------
scoutt
Mmmm... I have to go to Embedded World ([https://www.embedded-
world.de/en](https://www.embedded-world.de/en)) in a couple of weeks... I
expected to hear some news, but nothing so far.

~~~
ghaff
Events in Europe and North America are all going ahead as usual as far as I've
seen. (I just got back from a few fairly large events in Central Europe.) The
one you mention does have a notice on its site that basically such says there
will be doctors available at the conference.

~~~
scoutt
Thanks. The announcement wasn’t there the last time I checked.

------
dbaratech
Main losers are night club owners.

They bet an all in during the MWC in Barcelona.

------
toyg
I have a big conference next week in London. I wonder how it will be affected.
There is a lot of paranoia at the moment. Plus, “post-conference flu” has
always been a thing for me, and now I don’t know how I could know if it’s
regular flu (which was pretty bad this year, reportedly, on its own) or
Coronavirus.

Fun times, not.

~~~
xenospn
Better safe than sorry, no?

~~~
toyg
I really cannot afford not going. I’ll take my chances.

------
chinathrow
This comes in just after Art Basel in Hongkong has been cancelled, also due to
the new coronavirus.

[https://www.artbasel.com/hong-kong](https://www.artbasel.com/hong-kong)

~~~
ghaff
Pretty much all the tech industry events in APAC that I am aware of are being
canceled or postponed. I haven't seen much change outside of APAC yet but that
could change of course.

------
jdkee
“ “It is of great importance to the GSMA to continue to convene the industry
at this critical time where connectivity is on the cusp of a new industrial
revolution,” the group said in a statement.”

Absolutely clueless.

~~~
ryan_j_naughton
I wonder how liability will be handled in all the cases worldwide where
companies did not cancel services or events and then people die due to novel
Coronavirus.

For example, the cruise ships that area currently quarantined in Asia with
10-20 cases of novel Coronavirus on each. I know of passengers trying to get
other cruises to cancel their trip and refund their money. If they don't do so
and then that next cruise ship has an outbreak and people die, would the ship
be liable?

Similarly, for this conference in Europe.

I wonder how to evaluate the risk in each case. The cruise ships that area
currently in quarantine likely wouldn't be liable since it wasn't clear that
this would inherently happen, but now the next cruises to depart from similar
places should be liable perhaps?

Any lawyers on here care to comment? Thanks!

~~~
Cerium
How would it be different for other viruses that frequently run rampant in
cruise ships?

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catalogia
Two comments within two minutes calling Ericsson pathetic? I didn't know
people had such strong feelings about this company.

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lowdose
Very convenient excuse to delay showing their pathetic 5G range.

