We are fortunate in the event industry that we have some very active associations which are liaising with government advisors on potential impacts. The event and culture sector is also seen as a balance on normality, so everyone is focused on maintaining normality wherever possible.

The current position is that categorically stopping all events is not necessary. This is clearly a fast-moving situation and the government will need to make some challenging decisions that are proportionate to the risks.

Event organisers should continue to plan for events while closely monitoring the developments and advice from the UK government, Public Health England, the NHS and the World Health Organisation.

The health secretary has urged members of the public to carry on as normal. The health secretary said it would not be effective to close schools and offices and cancel large-scale public sporting events to try to contain the virus.

In a conference call with event organisers, the deputy chief medical officer (CMO) said there is “no clear rationale” for closing events in order to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, as has happened in other European countries, including France, Switzerland and Italy.

Based on the biomathematical models of the virus’s spread, the current guidance is that stopping events is not necessary, Jonathan Van-Tam said, adding that the principal places of infection are the home, schools and workplace. With the virus having a relatively small radius of infection (two metres), pubs and public transport were noted as being more likely to be a source of transmission than events.

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