GVNW cancels Cologne event as Merkel warns up to 70% of Germans will be infected

The German risk and insurance management association GVNW has cancelled its popular Focus on Cyber and Financial Lines conference planned for Cologne on 18-19 March for health reasons, as the coronavirus (Covid-19) accelerates in the country. The GVNW’s decision to cancel its second-biggest event of the year came the day after Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that up to 70% of the country's population – some 58 million people – could contract the coronavirus. Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday alongside health minister Jens Spahn, Ms Merkel said that because there is currently no known cure, the focus should be on slowing the spread of the virus. "It's about winning time," she explained. The GVNW clearly decided that exposing its members to the potential risk was not worth it. “In view of the worsening situation in connection with the coronavirus, we unfortunately had to decide to cancel our GVNW conference, Focus on Cyber and Financial Lines, on 18-19 March 2020 in Cologne, because several speakers had to withdraw their participation. We greatly regret this step but the health of the participants, speakers and employees of the GVNW must be the first priority,” it stated. For now, Germany will not close its borders. Ms Merkel said that border closures would not be sufficient to prevent the spread of the virus and ruled out following Austria's lead in banning visitors from Italy, reported BBC News. "This is a test for our solidarity, our common sense and care for each other. And I hope we pass the test," she reportedly said. Ms Merkel added that she is open to scrapping Germany's ‘black zero’ rule to allow new government borrowing. She said it was "an extraordinary situation" and that ending the outbreak came first. Some experts were not so sure about Ms Merkel’s prediction that 70% of the population would contract the virus. Virologist Alexander Kekulé, a former federal government adviser on disease control, told German media that in the worst-case scenario, a maximum of 40,000 people in the country would die, based on the number of cases in China and recent dramatic decline in infections. Mr Kekulé added however, that the German government had missed opportunities to contain the outbreak further by shutting schools and cancelling events. This is now happening. On Wednesday, for example, Berlin city authorities banned all events with more than 1,000 participants until the end of the Easter holidays. Some 15 other states have now followed suit. Businesses in Germany, as across the rest of Europe, are acting without official direction and encouraging employees to work from home. German state news agency Deutsche Welle (DW) reported this week that a recent poll of more than 700 Germans had found that 38% of respondents wanted to work from home. A third said they would avoid meetings, trade fairs and major events in the coming weeks. "We now know that we are in the current phase of the pandemic where we have to practically cut off all social contacts if we want to have any chance of keeping the number of infected people as low as possible," Patrick Larscheid, a public health officer in Berlin, told DW. Mr Larscheid told DW that the decision to cancel events with more than 1,000 visitors did not go far enough. He reportedly said that any space where people come together in close contact should be closed. "Otherwise we won't be able to control it anymore," he said. UK risk management association Airmic has confirmed to Commercial Risk Europe that it currently still plans to proceed with its annual conference in Edinburgh on 8-10 June, but will clearly watch the development of coronavirus (Covid-19) and take the advice of government and other stakeholders closer to the date.

GVNW cancels Cologne event as Merkel warns up to 70% of Germans will be infected

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