Pittsburgh events to carry on, with precautions, despite coronavirus spread

Events across the country are being canceled because of the growing threat of the coronavirus, but it’s business as usual in Western Pennsylvania.

While precautions are being taken at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh and at the Monroeville Convention Center, event leaders are monitoring the spread of the virus with no current plans of calling off scheduled conferences.

“Fortunately, we’re very lucky here in Pittsburgh,” said John DeSantis, executive director of the Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show. “I think everybody understands we need to be careful, but we don’t need to be alarmed at this point. Those of us who aren’t in the hot spot areas … we’ve had time to prepare.”

The annual event opens today and runs through March 15 at the Downtown convention center. Now in its 39th year, DeSantis said it draws 350,000 people from a 200-mile radius — from Cleveland to Harrisburg and from Lake Erie to Charleston, W.Va. More than 1,800 exhibits will be set up over 10 acres of floor space.

DeSantis said they are following the lead of the Allegheny County Health Department. All of the restrooms and dining areas have been scrubbed. Event officials have switched to antibacterial soap in the bathrooms and added hand sanitizer stations to areas where money and food are handled. Workers will wear gloves.

Shutting down

While Pittsburgh-based conventions are taking precautions, events across the country have been canceled as the virus spreads. As of Thursday, there had been 199 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States and 12 deaths so far, according to a New York Times tracker.

In Columbus, Ohio, the trade show associated with the Arnold Sports Festival has been postponed, officials announced this week. The festival itself will continue, just with spectators barred from the event. No coronavirus cases have been reported in Ohio.

A higher education technology conference in Orlando announced its April conference will now be done virtually, with four confirmed covid-19 cases in Florida.

In Austin, Texas, SXSW was cancelled Friday night, the Austin Amercian-Statesman reported. The decision came after a number of companies and keynote speakers pulled out including Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. Texas has 12 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Internationally, the Inter-Pacific Bar Association conference in Shanghai slated for April was postponed until October. Similarly, the International Trademark Association’s April conference in Singapore was postponed until 2022. Officials are working with event attendees to refund flights.

“Once you cancel one of these puppies it’s not like you can turn around and go somewhere else, because there’s hotels and everything,” said Dennis Unkovic, an international attorney with Pittsburgh-based Meyer, Unkovic & Scott.

Locally, companies are also working to prevent the spread of the virus.

At the Bayer Group, internal and external gatherings of large groups have been restricted, along with the participation of external consultants, suppliers and visitors in meetings, according to spokesperson Daniel Childs.

International travel to and from high-risk countries like China, South Korea and Italy has also been reduced to a minimum.

At PNC Bank, which has plans in place to address the emergence of a pandemic, officials are monitoring the virus, said spokesperson Marcey Zwiebel. She added that officials have shared symptoms and methods of transmission with employees along with safe travel guidelines that follow recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Monitoring the spread

At the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, no events have been canceled at this time, said general manager Tim Muldoon.

“Obviously, everyone is keeping a close eye on it and it’s kind of a fluid situation,” Muldoon said. “Right now, we’re definitely open for business.”

Depending on the spread of the virus, Muldoon said officials will work with future event organizers on a case-by-case basis.

According to spokesperson Maureen Vogel, the National Safety Council’s Northeast Conference & Expo planned for March 11 at the Pittsburgh convention center will continue as planned. She noted that officials are following coronavirus developments along with tips from the CDC and the Department of State.

“We urge all employers, including those planning to send staff to conferences, to assess their unique workplace environments and needs and make decisions accordingly,” she said.

Officials for Encore Championship, a cheerleading competition slated for March 21-22 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, said they are also monitoring the coronavirus and will make decisions based on the CDC, local health officials and event partners.

Officials with the Monroeville Convention Center did not return calls for comment.

Steel City Con is slated to be held there April 17-19.

“We have no plans for a cancellation of our April event,” said co-owner of Steel City Con co-owner Robert Stein. “At Steel City Con, we are very cognizant of sanitary conditions with celebrities, vendors and fans at every show and will continue to be vigilant maintaining that standard moving forward.”

The same is true for others across the region, DeSantis said.

“Pittsburghers are very prudent about this stuff,” he said. “They do things to keep their families safe.”

Staff writers Jamie Martines and JoAnne Klimovich Harrop contributed. Megan Tomasic is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan at 724-850-1203, mtomasic@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MeganTomasic.