Major cardiology conferences including the American College of Cardiology’s ACC 2020 annual scientific meeting have been cancelled due to the risk of COVID-19.
The ACC organising committee said the ACC 2020 conference that was due to take place in Chicago from March 28 –30 will no longer go ahead in the light of increasing outbreaks of COVID-19 worldwide, including the US.
They said the cancelation of the meeting that attracts more than 16,000 cardiologists worldwide, was not taken lightly.
“The health, safety and well-being of our members, staff, exhibitors, faculty, and the patients we serve is of paramount importance. With an ever-increasing number of ACC members on the front lines of preparing and reacting to the COVID-19 outbreak, we believe it is in the best interest of everyone to cancel the meeting and ensure our members are able to do what they do best – help and heal.
The ACC said people who have already registered for ACC 2020 should contact the College for details of refunds. The College is also working to arrange virtual delivery of some parts of the conference.
“This is a unique time for us all, but ACC members and the cardiovascular profession as a whole have a long history of innovation and rising to meet whatever challenges come our way,” said ACC president Dr Richard Kovacs.
Meanwhile the European Society for Cardiology (ESC) has announced that EHRA 2020, the scientific congress of the European Heart Rhythm Association scheduled for 29 to 31 March in Vienna, will not proceed as planned.
“ESC and EHRA leadership have been closely following the recent developments around COVID-19. With severe measures being taken by hospitals to deal with the epidemic, a rapidly growing number of congress faculty have informed us that they are unable to travel. Under the circumstances, cancelling EHRA 2020 was deemed the only responsible course of action.”
“The ESC is now considering whether to reschedule at least some of the event for a later date or deliver some of the planned content via online platforms.”
The ESC cancelled its Acute Cardiovascular Care 2020 conference that was supposed to take place on 7-9 March 7-9, in Athens, Greece.
Organisers of other ESC-sponsored conferences such as ESC Preventive Cardiology 2020 (2-4 April 2020, Malaga, Spain) and Heart Failure 2020 (23-26 May, Barcelona, Spain) say they are reviewing the fast moving COVID-19 situation and will make announcements shortly.
No announcement has yet been made about the Society’s major European cardiology conference, ESC Congress 2020 , which is scheduled for 29 August in Amsterdam.
Registrations have not yet opened for the CSANZ’s 68th ASM which will be held in the Gold Coast from 13-16 August 2020.
The other major American cardiology conference, the American Heart Association Sessions (AHA 2020) is not due to start until 14 November in Dallas.