Frankfurt's Light + Building trade fair has been postponed to September 2020 due to the increasing spread of the coronavirus in Europe. 

Light + Building is the sector’s most important meeting place for architects, the industry, the installation and retail / wholesale trades, and planners. 

The fair was planning to be held between March 8-13 in Frankfurt am Main, and it has now been rescheduled between the middle and end of September 2020, according to a press release by Messe Frankfurt. 

However, exact dates have not been announced by the fair yet. 

Light + Building is only one of the cancelled or postponed trade shows due to the recent coronavirus outbreak, as well as Art Basel Hong Kong and other Chinese events and trade shows.

The unexpected appearance of coronavirus in Italy caused to postpone the fair  

"In view of the increasing spread of the coronavirus in Europe and after intensive consultations, Messe Frankfurt has decided to postpone Light + Building," said the event organizers. 

"The world’s leading trade fair for lighting and building-services technology will now be held in Frankfurt am Main between the middle and end of September 2020. The cooperation partners of the international trade fair, ZVEI and ZVEH, support this decision."

"The unexpected appearance of Covid-19 in Italy since last weekend demanded a new analysis of the situation in close cooperation with the public-health authorities of the City of Frankfurt." 

"A multi-stage health check on guests from China has been called for, the implementation of which would be extremely challenging for Messe Frankfurt. Additionally, more and more travel restrictions are being put into place thus making it difficult for both visitors and exhibitors to attend the fair," added in a statement.

Messe Frankfurt Exhibition © Pietro Sutera

The first case of the coronavirus was detected in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in China, on December 1, 2019. At the time of this writing, the outbreak of novel coronavirus killed 2,701 people and 80,234 cases have been confirmed around the world. 33 death cases were confirmed outside of China, including Philippines, Hong Kong, Iran, Italy, South Korea, France, Taiwan, Japan. 

In Italy recently 229 coronavirus cases have been confirmed and 7 death cases have been recorded at the time of this writing. Last week, there has been a sharp increase of the novel coronavirus, specifically exploded in Milan and Venice, and all schools, museums, institutions were closed and set a limited transport for public, reported by the CNN. Venice Carnival has also been suspended due to the outbreak.  

Messe Frankfurt Exhibition. Image © Petra Welzel 

"This decision is supported by the cooperation partners of Light + Building, the Electrical Installation Systems and the Light Working Groups of the Central Association of the German Electrical and Electronic Engineering Industry (ZVEI) and the Central Association of German Electricians (ZVEH)," added the fair organizers. 

"The foremost Italian associations also back this decision. After Germany, the largest groups of exhibitors and visitors come from China and Italy."

Coronavirus is "a global emergency" announced by World Health Organization

On January 30, 2020, in the second meeting of the Emergency Committee of World Health Organization, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it is "a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)". 

The government of China completed its 1,000-bed Huoshenshan Hospital in the city of Wuhan in only nine days for its coronavirus patients who will be quarantined within this hospital.

Top image: Messe Frankfurt Exhibition © Pietro Sutera 

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