Xiaomi announced on Tuesday that it is canceling all upcoming on-ground launch events in India to reduce exposure risk in wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Xiaomi India head Manu Kumar Jain made the announcement in an open letter shared on social media, calling it “an unprecedented yet extremely important step.”
Xiaomi will not hold any offline launch events in the country through March. The company would have another update regarding future launches by the end of the month.
“Reports of community spread are coming in from various parts of the world. In certain media reports, there are also instances of asymptomatic carriers, meaning a person could be a carrier of the virus without exhibiting any symptoms of the flu. We are operating out of abundant caution and our dedication to keeping all of you healthy,” Manu Jain wrote in the open letter.
Xiaomi is gearing to launch the Redmi Note 9 lineup of phones in India on March 12. The launch would be streamed online.
Xiaomi is the first company in India to come up and take a stand on the matter – even as the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has – already – forced cancellation of numerous high-profile tech events globally including the MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain.
Update: Realme India is also canceling its upcoming Realme 6, Realme 6 Pro and Realme Band launch event on March 5. Realme will live stream the launch event as well in wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) has killed 2,912 people in China alone and has spread to at least 58 countries. And it has reached Indian shores. Two confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have come up in India, one in Delhi and another in Hyderabad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged residents not to panic even as the government of India has issued a fresh advisory, stepping up screening of passengers from affected countries and canceling Visas for visitors from several countries.