A dog wearing face mask is seen on a street as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Shanghai, China March 2, 2020.
In a matter of days, thousands of people and canines will be traveling to West Midland to witness the annual canine show in the United Kingdom, Crufts 2020 as organizers announce that the event will go ahead this year amidst the looming threat of coronavirus.
The announcement followed the government's COBRA meeting last Monday with the organizer of the dog show revealing that they have not received any advice form the Public Health England to cancel or postpone the event.
On the website of the Kennel Club, the organizer, it was published that they are still looking forward to welcoming their visitors, dog owner, canine lovers and exhibitors as usual.
A statement published on the Kennel Club's website reads: "We are looking forward to welcoming our exhibitors and visitors as usual." However, they also noted that the situation is still evolving and that they will continue to adhere to the advice of health experts and authorities.
The club further stated that they will continue to be guided by the facts and medical information released by public health organizations. As of the moment, the advice from Public Health England has not changed. They said that the most effective thing to do to protect themselves from the virus is simple personal hygiene routines like washing one's hands properly, maintaining good respiratory hygiene. and employing the 'Catch It. Bin It. Kill It' ethos.
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With this in mind, the Kennel Club assured that there will be enhanced measures that will be taken and put in place to protect those who will be present at the event. They also said that they are continuing to monitor the situations along with the Department of Health and Defra for further updates and ensured that they will issue official statements and announcements on their social media channels and website.
According to Independent, Kennel Club's Senior Health and Welfare Manager Bill Lambert revealed the lengths that they have taken in order to make sure that the event will be safe from COVID-19 threats. He also said that the club will be putting 3,000 additional hand sanitizers in all over the event
Even with the concerns that people have expressed over the event, Lambert insisted that it is still going to push through and are reminding people to take extra effort in caring for their pets and themselves in the duration of Crufts 2020.
On top of this, he said that there are an estimated 27,000 dogs that will be participating in the events and about 3,000 of these will be coming from outside the country. In view of this, they have informed the participants that there are areas where they cannot travel from and that they have written to people as a reminder than traveling in those quarantine areas are restricted.
There are currently 51 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the UK. The disease has so far affected more than 92,100 people across 71 countries and territories and has killed more than 3,100 worldwide.
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