Lenovo has grow to be the newest firm to announce it will not have a bodily presence at CES 2022. On Wednesday night, the patron and enterprise electronics producer said it would not have on-site personnel on the occasion to guard the well being of its staff and prospects.
“After closely monitoring the current trends surrounding COVID, it is in the best interest of the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners, and our communities to suspend all on-site activity in Las Vegas,” the corporate . “While this is a change in plans, we are excited for you all to see our latest technology launching as scheduled on January 4th and January 5th.”
Lenovo follows Amazon, Meta, Twitter and present sponsor T-Mobile in backing away from the commerce present. All 4 stated they might not attend in individual resulting from issues associated to the brand new COVID-19 omicron variant. And whereas they’re all essential names in tech, they don’t seem to be a {hardware} participant in the identical method Lenovo is, nor have they traditionally had as giant of a bodily presence on the present because it has in years previous.
For the time being, the Consumer Technology Association, the group that places collectively CES yearly, nonetheless plans to maneuver ahead with the occasion. “Given CES’ comprehensive health measures — vaccination requirement, masking and availability of COVID-19 tests — coupled with lower attendance and social distancing measures, we are confident that attendees and exhibitors can have a socially distanced but worthwhile and productive event in Las Vegas, as well as a rewarding experience on our digital access,” the group instructed .
There’s nonetheless a lot that scientists do not find out about omicron, however early knowledge suggests it is a extremely transmissible pressure of the coronavirus. Federal well being officers stated on Monday the variant accounted for of all new circumstances nationwide the week ending December 18th. It made up 12.6 % of all COVID-19 circumstances within the US simply seven days earlier. In some areas of the nation, together with elements of New York states and the Pacific Northwest, the variant’s share was even greater. Scientists have additionally discovered most non-mRNA vaccines, together with Sinovac and Sinophram, supply little safety in opposition to the pressure. It’s comprehensible then why many firms wish to play it secure, and it is truthful to say Lenovo most likely will not be the final to drag out of CES 2022.
Update 12:31PM ET: Alphabet’s autonomous automotive unit Waymo announced immediately it too will not have a bodily presence at CES 2022. The firm says it can nonetheless take part just about in some CES-related occasions, nevertheless it will not have a sales space on the occasion.
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