Coronavirus is starting to affect things locally

WITH governments and individuals world-wide increasingly concerned about the spread of coronavirus and desperate to halt its advance, Co Armagh has begun to feel the effects.

Six Armagh people who were to have flown to Venice last Sunday, cancelled their flight to Venice in north-east Italy.

Venice is the capital of Veneto which, along with Lombardy, is one of the European regions most seriously affected.

Other tourists from Armagh, who have been abroad on a skiing holiday, were due back on Sunday. But when, on Friday afternoon, The Gazette spoke to Professional Travel in Thomas Street, through whom those skiers had booked their trip, we were told, “There’s some suggestion now that Easyjet may be about to cancel their flights to and from northern Italy, so at this stage it’s a case of wait and see.

“The truth is that nobody knows what to expect or what exactly is going on. But it's fairly obvious that even here, we’re now starting to feel the effects of coronavirus, too.”

Portadown opticians Alexander, Bain & Murray had planned to send a representative to last weekend’s annual International Optics, Optometry and Ophthalmology Exhibition at Fiera Milano, Rho on the outskirts of Milan.

That is an event which showcases frames made by the world’s leading names in the field – Prada, Armani, Versace, Robert Cavalli and Salvatore Ferragamo, for example. A show at this stage of the year enables buyers to order the incoming fashions ahead of others.

But with the Lombardy region’s capital city among those smitten by the outbreak, the three-day exhibition, which was to have run from February 29 to, March 2, was postponed by the organisers.

Days earlier the Giorgio Armani show – the high point of Milan Fashion Week - was held inside an empty showroom. That event ended with a dozen Chinese models emerging onto the catwalk wearing archival pieces from Armani’s couture Spring Privé collections from 2009 and 2019.

Armani afterwards explained that this had been intended as “a message of love” for the country [China] where the coronavirus outbreak originated.

Milan’s Mayor, Giuseppe Sala, later announced that along with universities in both Lombardy and Veneto, schools would be closed until further notice.