The number of attendees of the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) conference in Paris to contract coronavirus has now increased to seven — highlighting the urgent need for attendees to get tested for COVID-19.
The EthCC conference took place from March 3 until March 5 — just a few days prior to the Macron government banning all public gatherings of more than 1,000 people in France.
First confirmed COVID-19 case among EthCC attendees announced on March 11
The first confirmed case among EthCC conference-goers was TorusLabs co-founder, Zhen Yu Yong, who tweeted that he had been diagnosed with coronavirus on March 11.
Zhen urged anyone who had come into contact with him during either the EthCC or the ETHLondon hackathon at the end of February to get tested.
“I fell ill yesterday and have just been diagnosed with #COVID2019. Everybody who had close contact @EthCC_ or @ETHLondon with me should take extra precautions and/or get tested.”
Confirmed cases jumps to seven by March 15
On March 14, six additional cases were confirmed among EthCC attendees.
The infected individuals include independent Afri Shoedon, the author of the ERC-777 token standard Jacques Dafflon, investment bank Werner Jacob, Gnosis’ Marco, Atpar’s Johannes Pfeffer, and an individual whose identity has not been revealed.
Crypto companies ordered to disclose coronavirus mitigation plans
On March 10, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) sent letters to all regulated institutions operating with cryptocurrencies requesting that they submit detailed “preparedness plans” for the risks associated with the coronavirus epidemic.
“It is critical that each regulated entity establish plans to address how it will manage the effects of the outbreak and assess disruptions and other risks to its services and operations,” the regulator stated.
The letter also mandates that crypto businesses notify the NYDFS if their positive networth drops below a required threshold above their minimum required capitalization.
Coronavirus risks drive crypto conferences online
The pandemic outbreak has led to numerous virtual currency conferences being postponed or canceled — including the DC BLockchain Summit, Bitcoin 2020, the Paris Blockchain Week.
Other conferences have sought to weather the crisis by migrating online, such as London Blockchain Week, and Consensys 2020.
