VIRUS TOPPLES HEALTH FORUM
After 2 conferences called off, Demings says region’s risk low
After two conferences scheduled to bring a combined 60,000 people to Orlando were canceled on Thursday over coronavirus fears, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings reassured residents that the region is at “low risk” and said the county remains “open for business.”
Demings said the two conferences — HIMSS Global Health & Exhibition set to begin Monday and Minecraft Festival set to arrive in September along with a third convention called Ellucian Live, a higher education technology event that called off its April meeting earlier this week — represented a loss of about $150 million to the
community.
“This is a huge hit to Orange County and the convention center,” Demings said.
He emphasized that vacationers are still coming to Orlando, the nation’s theme park capital, and that visitors from China, South Korea, Italy and Japan account for only 0.3% of the 75 million tourists that came here last year.
“We invite families and others to consider vacationing here, especially during Spring Break, and we’re still open for business here in Orange County,” Demings said.
Escalating concerns about COVID-19 prompted HIMSS on Thursday to call off the conference of 44,000 health care professionals that was scheduled to feature an appearance by President Donald Trump on Monday.
“Industry understanding of the potential reach of the virus has changed significantly in the last 24 hours,” which made assessing risk “impossible,” said a statement from the Healthcare Informational and Management Systems Society. The group said it was worried about taking attendees, many of whom work at hospitals around the world, away from their communities “should the virus continue spreading.”
Organizers of the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition also expressed concerns about stressing the health system in Central Florida “were there to be an adverse event,” said spokeswoman Karen Groppe.
“It had nothing to do with Orlando,” she said. “We were all thrilled to be in Orlando, we were excited.”
Earlier in the week, tech companies Cisco, Amazon, Salesforce and Intel announced that they would not attend HIMSS because of coronavirus fears.
The cancellation will mean empty hotel rooms during what would have been one of the busiest shows of the year at the convention center. Demings said that show alone would have brought 94,500 room nights and $113 million of economic impact to the area.
Orlando is host to dozens of professional conferences and other events each year that attract hundreds of thousands of people from across the globe.
Cheerleading and volleyball competitions, expected to draw almost 50,000 people to the convention center this weekend, still plan to go on.
USA Volleyball CEO Jamie Davis released a statement saying the organization, which will host the Sunshine Classic, is closely monitoring coronavirus concerns but it “would be premature to cancel our tournaments at this time as the risk is still very low in the United States.”
A spokesman for Orlando’s cityowned venues such as the Amway Center said the city is monitoring the virus, but has not seen any cancellations. Billie Eilish and Marc Anthony are scheduled to perform next week at the arena that is home to the Orlando Magic.
There have been no cases of COVID-19 reported in Orange County, though Demings said earlier this week that it’s likely “a matter of time” before a local case emerges.
Earlier on Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the third case in the state — one in the panhandle’s Santa Rosa County after others in Manatee and Hillsborough counties.
But local businesses are already feeling the toll of the virus.
Calls about canceled reservations started coming in at Tapa Tora, a Spanish restaurant in the heart of the tourist corridor, even before the HIMSS conference officially canceled.
It will mean the loss of thousands of dollars, said Operations Manager Alex Attart.
“There are a lot of big conventions and that is what we live on,” said Attart, who said some businesses reserve large areas of Tapa Toro for networking parties at these conventions. “As a restaurant, we can probably take a blow better than our servers.”
The ownership group of Tapa Toro also owns Taverna Opa and employs about 100 people at the two restaurants, Attart said.
“If I lose a $1,000 check, that’s $200 for the servers,” he said. “I depend on the conventions.”
Before the cancellation, Attart had hoped that Trump’s presence at HIMSS might help offset the loss of some parties that had dropped out early.
Questions have been raised about the Trump administration’s response to the outbreak.
The president has said of Democrats’ criticism of his handling of the outbreak, “This is their new hoax” at a rally last week and downplayed the death rate in a TV appearance.
“I think the 3.4% number is really a false number,” Trump told Sean Hannity. “Now this is just my hunch, but based on a lot of conversations ... personally, I’d say the number is way under 1%.”
Trump is still expected in the region next week. He has a private fundraiser scheduled Monday evening in Central Florida, most likely in Seminole County.