Update International Weed Science Conference in Bangkok
IWSC 2020 Brief Update
To all IWSS members, Affiliates, and Congress Participants,
On behalf of the IWSS Board of Directors, the Local Organizing Committee, and the
Scientific Program Committee I convey the following information regarding the status of the IWSC 2020 preparations and the most pressing question of how the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak is going to affect the Congress. We assure you that we are monitoring the coronavirus situation and assessing the risk to participants of the Congress in Bangkok this June. An update on coronavirus in Thailand
can be found at this link https://www.businesseventsthailand.com/en/press-media/newspress-release/detail/956-tceb-situation-update-travel-advisory-coronavirus-on-28-january-2020. To summarize, there have been 32 confirmed cases as of February 8; a third of these patients had already been cleared and sent home while the rest are kept in quarantine. The Thai government has put in place comprehensive measures to prevent further spread of current infections, prevent entry of infected persons into the country, and keep the public safe. Authorized hospital specialists conduct comprehensive health audits of conference venues in Bangkok before any event and also conduct routine sanitation of public places daily, including trains and airplanes. The prognosis is that corona virus infections will be abated in the next few months. We will keep monitoring the situation.
As of today, preparations for the Congress is progressing well. The main topic organizers (see list at www.iwsc2020.com) are working hard on editing abstracts and organizing the oral presentation sessions. The student paper selection committee is in the process of evaluating the contest papers. The SPC has assembled four exciting keynote topics. The LOC has done everything possible to facilitate pre-Congress activities including a workshop for students and young scientists hosted by EWRS. We have strong support from two Diamond Sponsors; Gold, Silver, and Bronze sponsors; as well several other private industry-, government-, weed science society-, and academic partners.
We will continue monitoring the situation and will send final notice whether the Congress will proceed as scheduled, on April 7, 2.5 months before the Congress, so all of us can finalize our travel plans.
Yours sincerely,
NILDA ROMA-BURGOS, President, IWSS
You can download the original message here.