MWC 2020 will not take place; the world's largest mobile tech conference, which was scheduled to take place in Barcelona on February 24, was canceled two weeks ago due to a coronavirus outbreak, Bloomberg reported. [This was triggered by LG and ZTE's announcement eight days earlier that they would not be holding the event. Over the next week, a number of companies followed suit, ranging from Amazon, Sony, Ericsson, and Nokia.

All the while, the GSMA, the organizer of the MWC, continued to insist that the show would go on, albeit with a list of measures implemented to minimize risk to attendees, from the installation of more hand sanitizing stations to a no handshake policy The GSMA also announced that it would not allow participants from China, the alleged source of the coronavirus from the Hubei region of China, which is believed to be the source of the coronavirus.

However, the increasing number of absentees forced the GSMA's hand. Earlier today (February 12), Wired reported that the GSMA is pushing the Spanish government to declare the virus a public health emergency so that it can file an insurance claim to mitigate the losses it would incur if it cancels the event.

Hours later, it was made official: GSMA CEO John Hoffman told Bloomberg that "global concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, travel concerns, and other circumstances make it impossible for the event to take place," and that it would not be postponed to a later date this year, he said via e-mail He informed the group via email that the event would not be postponed to a later date this year.

"Due to the safe and healthy environment in Barcelona and the host city today, GSMA has cancelled MWC Barcelona 2020," the GSMA's official statement said." GSMA and host city officials remain united and mutually supportive of MWC Barcelona 2021 and future editions."

MWC is typically the place where many companies present their cell phones and wearable devices that they plan to release this year. It is an important event for the industry, and now that it is off the calendar, many handset manufacturers will be rolling out their products on their own schedule.