Now that the WHO has officially declared the Coronavirus a pandemic, social distancing has become all the rage. Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, has called for statewide public gatherings of 250 or more to be canceled. And now, Comic-Con International is beginning to comply with this request.
Via The Hollywood Reporter, CCI has decided to indefinitely postpone next month’s WonderCon festivities in Anaheim. You can check out the full statement below.
“To protect public health and slow the rate of transmission of COVID-19, the California Department of Public Health announced a recommendation that gatherings and events of more than 250 people should either be postponed or canceled,” the statement reads. “Comic-Con (organizer of WonderCon) will abide by this recommendation. Therefore WonderCon Anaheim, scheduled for April 10-12, 2020 in Anaheim, California, will be postponed until a later date. We will begin processing refunds in the coming days.”
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CCI is also the organization behind San Diego Comic-Con. Naturally, this announcement has sparked speculation that the same fate will befall that convention. Regardless, the organization insisted that they haven’t made a decision about Comic-Con itself.
“We continue to work closely with officials in San Diego and at this time no decision has been made regarding the rescheduling of Comic-Con slated to take place this summer; July 23-26, 2020.”
WonderCon isn’t the first convention to feel the effects of the Coronavirus outbreak. Emerald City Comic Con, ACE Comic Con Northeast, and CinemaCon were all scrapped in recent weeks. This year’s WonderCon would have featured appearances by major comic industry figures like Brian Michael Bendis and Jim Lee, to name a few.
Were you planning to attend WonderCon in Anaheim next month? What do you make of CCI’s decision to postpone the event? Let us know in the comments down below!
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