MWC 2020: Coronavirus fears lead Nokia to pull out of major tech conference

Organisers insist event will go ahead despite worries over spread of disease

A resident wearing a protective facemask walks at the Patan Durbar Square area in Kathmandu on February 10, 2020 (PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images)

Yet another tech company has pulled out of an upcoming major conference amid fears about coronavirus.

Nokia as well as its telecoms business HMD Global said the concern over the spread of the disease was too high for it to participate.

Mobile World Congress 2020 has come under threat in recent days as many of the world's biggest tech companies have pulled out of the event.

Facebook, Amazon, LG, Sony, TCL and other companies have announced they will no longer take part.

"MWC Barcelona has always been a key event in our annual calendar and we were very excited to showcase our new products to our partners, customers, media and fans. However, the health and safety of our employees, customers, and stakeholders is our highest priority," HMD Global said.

"We believe the prudent decision is to cancel our participation at Mobile World Congress and want to express our sincere thanks to the GSMA and other authorities for their tireless efforts to address the challenges resulting from Covid-19, and they have our full support as they move forward.

"We will update the media, our partners and customers on a new timeline for our product announcements."

MWC is due to take place at the end of the month, but almost all of the largest attendees have announced they will pull out because of fears over coronavirus.

Organisers the GSMA has insisted the event will go ahead, though rumours have suggested it could give a further announcement at the end of this week.

GSMA has introduced a number of new safety measures to prevent the spread of the strain of coronavirus, officially named Covid-19 by the World Health Organisation.

MWC has banned attendees from the Chinese province of Hubei - where the strain Covid-19 is thought to have originated - and anyone who has recently been to China will be asked to confirm that they have been outside the country for 14 days prior to the show.

Organisers have also confirmed that temperature screening will be in place and it is encouraging those attending to adopt a "no-handshake" policy.

As of Wednesday morning, The total number of cases of Covid-19 was around 45,000 globally, with the number of deaths in mainland China reaching 1,113.​

Additional reporting by agencies