Originally scheduled on February 26-28, 2020 in Shanghai, the PCHi (Personal Care and Homecare Ingredients) trade show has been postponed until further notice.

The organisers of the cosmetic and homecare ingredients trade show explained the decision follows orders from the Shanghai municipal government on epidemic prevention and control in the context of the lately outbreak of the novel coronavirus related pneumonia in China.

“We will closely monitor the development of the epidemic and keep close communication with Shanghai government. The new show date and further arrangements will be informed upon confirmation,” added the organizers.

Children wearing face masks cross the road during a public holiday for the Lunar New Year of the Rat in Hong Kong on January 27, 2020, following a coronavirus outbreak which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan (Photo: © Anthony Wallace / AFP)

China has dramatically scaled back celebrations associated with the New Year holiday, which began Friday 24th of January, while tourist sites like Beijing’s Forbidden City and a section of the Great Wall have closed.

Then, on Monday 27th of January, the government expanded drastic travel restrictions within China and prolonged a public holiday to contain the spread of the epidemic linked to a novel coronavirus identified as 2019-nCoV. In particular, the country has locked down the hard-hit province of Hubei in the country’s centre, an unprecedented operation affecting tens of millions of people and intended to slow transmission of the respiratory virus.

The previously unknown virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) pathogen, which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003. However, the new virus seems not as powerful as SARS while it seems to transmit more easily between humans.