New Crown Pneumonia│Book Fair Exhibitors Signed a Request to Extend KMB's Statement to Announce Cancellation

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Written by: Huang Yingjin

2020-07-12 18:43

Hong Kong is facing the third wave of outbreaks, and there are many cases of local infections of unknown origin. Zhang Zhujun, director of the Infectious Diseases Division of the Centre for Health Protection, even described it as the most severe stage of the epidemic. The book fair is scheduled to be held on Wednesday (15th). Medical experts have successively called for the book fair to be cancelled. The exhibitors are worried that the book fair will be held as scheduled.

A KMB participating in the book fair issued a statement that it decided to withdraw from the consideration of the safety of employees and customers; the Hong Kong Book Fair Concern Group, which is mainly composed of book vendors, also said that it received replies from book vendors involving nearly 200 booths. After the extension, more than 80% of them think that if the book fair is held as scheduled, they will consider not to enter the room or cancel the rent, and request the organizer to refund the deposit.

Concern group refers to 200 stalls booksellers request to postpone KMB announced to withdraw from the book fair​​

The Hong Kong Book Fair Concern Group, which is mainly composed of book vendors, sent a questionnaire to book fair exhibitors and received replies from about 50 book vendors and nearly 200 booth vendors within 1 hour. All hope that the book fair will be postponed. More than 80% of the exhibitors interviewed further believed that if the conference insisted on holding the book fair as scheduled, they would consider not entering the venue directly or returning the rent collectively, and asked the conference to refund the deposit. Some booksellers said that it had been reported to the TDC many times earlier that if a book fair is forcibly held and must be cut midway, the conference should fully refund the rent and compensation. Booksellers also require book fairs to be postponed while retaining existing conditions, or to cancel evening book fairs on weekends.

The Concern Group said that it is hoped that the government, the Trade Development Bureau and other sponsors will respond cautiously, carefully assess the risk of the epidemic, consider the public health, the rights and interests of exhibitors and the overall social interests, consider postponing or suspending related large-scale exhibitions, and respond to the exhibitors accordingly The subsidy allows exhibitors to unconditionally withdraw their rent, and retains the subsidy for the next exhibition to reduce the loss of exhibitors.

Another book fair exhibitor, KMB, announced that it had decided to withdraw from this year's book fair due to the ongoing epidemic, considering the safety of employees and guests.

Zhou Qiliang (middle), vice president of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, said earlier that the primary consideration of the book fair is the safety and health of exhibitors and the public. Arrangements will be made to require all visitors to wear masks and set temperature tests. (Photo/Photo by Ouyang Dehao)

Concern group: it is extremely difficult to track contacts such as outbreaks in book fairs

Zhang Zhujun, director of the Infectious Diseases Division of the Centre for Health Protection, said that the epidemic has already broken out in Hong Kong, and it is now the most severe stage of the epidemic. The Secretary for Food and Health Chen Zhaoshi also said a few days ago, "Any large gathering has a risk of spreading the virus."

The Hong Kong Book Fair Concern Group continued to point out that if any large-scale exhibitions continue to be held at the critical moment of epidemic prevention, it will bring huge risks to public health and safety, damage the rights and interests of exhibitors, and increase the risk of infection for all on-site staff. In the past years, the book fairs often had millions of people. The book fair organizers faced huge crowds. It was difficult to effectively monitor the situation of each person entering the hall. The epidemic prevention guidelines were disguised. In the event of an outbreak in the hall, the government had to arrange follow-up cases to track the difficulty. .

New Crown Pneumonia｜Zhang Zhujun: The Worst Worries Since the Epidemic Book Fair Calls for Work at Home

New Coronary Pneumonia | Xu Shuchang: Ideally, book fairs should be closed this year.

Hong Kong Book Fair | Admission is expected to be held in mid-July

The book fair opens as scheduled on July 15th. Exhibitors are restricted.

Hong Kong Book Fair 2020 New Crown PneumoniaNew Crown Pneumonia