After confirmed reports of the coronavirus in Iran, a major national bodybuilding competition has been postponed.
According to an update shared by Khabarfit on Instagram, a major national Iranian bodybuilding competition was cancelled by the Ministry of Sports due to the recent outbreak of coronavirus in the region.
A rough translation of the caption reveals the thinking behind the show’s coordinators decision to pull the plug on the event.
“If even one person got the coronavirus backstage, everyone would get infected,” the caption read. “We prevented a disaster.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B86NdamA9pH/
Part of the reason the show was cancelled was due to the fact that sponsors began to withdraw their support for the event after coronavirus gained an unexpected foothold in Iran last week. There are currently 61 reported cases of coronavirus in Iran, making it the fourth largest outbreak by country in the world behind China, Singapore, and Italy. Turkey, Pakistan, and Iraq have all closed their borders to the country and major airlines have suspended their flights in and out of the region.
The coronavirus first appeared in Iran in the city Qom. It’s unclear at this time how serious of a threat it is; Iran’s government puts the death toll at 12 and the total number of confirmed cases at 61, while some politicians from Qom have claimed that the death toll is as high as 50.
Either way, the outbreak is certainly having an effect on the health and safety of the region, causing the Ministry of Sports to cancel many public events, including bodybuilding competitions. Iran also saw record-low voter turnout in their parliamentary elections early February, which Interior Minister Abdulreza Rahmanifazli attributed to fears surrounding the new coronavirus.
The news comes at the peak of a recent coronavirus surge that saw cases skyrocket globally. Italy now has more than 200 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, the most of any outside Asia, and has had a similar reaction – all major league soccer matches were cancelled in the affected region and all movie theaters and plays were closed to the public to prevent transmission.
In the US, the stock market has plummeted 979 points (3.73%) due to disruptions to the global multinational manufacturing chain of many items ranging from cars to power tools to washing machines to phones. With many Chinese factories still closed due to health and safety concerns, it’s unclear when production will resume, causing widespread economic concerns. However, the greatest threat of all remains the threat to human life posed by the coronavirus, especially in areas with high rates of transmission.
There is good news, though: although coronavirus has shown itself to be self-replicating outside of China, the death rate is hovering around 2.3%, which is much lower than diseases like SARS and MERS. Out of the 75,000+ reported cases worldwide, just over 2,000 people have died. The vast majority of people who contract coronavirus will go on to live long and healthy lives, but it’s still important to track the spread of this new disease in our communities in order to best protect all of us.
*All images and media courtesy of Instagram.
