In response to reports of nine deaths in Washington state from the Coronavirus, a number of guests and companies have announced that they will no longer be participating in the upcoming Seattle’s Emerald City Comic Con, currently scheduled to take place next week in the Washington State Convention Center.
As revealed on Twitter Tuesday afternoon, Dark Horse Comics and Penguin Random House have pulled out of the annual event, with both citing the “safety” of their staff as the reason behind the decision.
In regards to individual creators attending, a number have taken to social media to announce that they would not be attending this year’s show including Steve Lieber, Jen Bartel, Jim Zub and Benjamin Percy.
Despite the cancellations, Emerald City Comic Con has not yet comment on that and to the latest updates about the situation in Seattle, which confirmed its 27th case of Coronavirus on Tuesday. The most recent update from Emerald City Comic Con was a statement issued March 1, which advised that the show would go ahead as planned, with “enhanced cleaning and sanitization across the show” promised.
As of this writing, Emerald City Comic Con is scheduled to take place March 12 though 15 in Seattle.
