WonderCon Anaheim 2020 & COVID-19: What We Know [UPDATE March 12]

These are uncertain times — in a lot of ways. No one knows what the future holds, but cons and entire countries are closing down all over the world, and people are hoarding toilet paper like it’s worth more than gold. While things are uncertain all over the globe, we’re The San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog, so we’re here to talk about the officially-a-pandemic-now COVID-19 specifically as it relates to both San Diego Comic-Con and WonderCon Anaheim 2020.

For more information on COVID-19 as pertains to high-risk groups, death rates, and more — you can check out WorldOMeter.

[UPDATE MARCH 12]

At the stroke of midnight, California Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Public Department of Public Health called upon all large gatherings of 250+ people to be postponed or canceled, through the end of month. This announcement currently affects conferences, concerts, sporting events, and more — but currently does not apply to schools.

Since the guidelines are only through the end of March, they technically don’t affect WonderCon and its April 10-12 dates, and it’s also unclear yet whether they would affect theme parks like Disneyland. However, these dates could easily be extended as COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the country, and Comic-Con International or the City of Anaheim could take pre-emptive measures prior to such an extension.

The City of Anaheim already confirmed they were “planning next steps with a new recommended statewide policy for public gatherings” and told residents to “expect to see changes in Anaheim in the coming days based on the guidelines”, which would indeed cover conventions.

Major update from Gov. Newsom on public gatherings across California in effort to stem #COVID19. Initial statement from city of Anaheim. More to come. Governor’s announcement here: https://t.co/WQqy7x5JW0 pic.twitter.com/PW47JK5voC

— City of Anaheim (@City_of_Anaheim) March 12, 2020

The City also replied to us on Twitter, seemingly confirming that “barring any extension”, the show will indeed go on.

Thanks for your informed reporting. As you noted, this state policy is through March 31. Barring any extension, we look forward to welcoming WonderCon, as we do every year, while taking all safeguards. Keep following us for updates.

— City of Anaheim (@City_of_Anaheim) March 12, 2020

[UPDATE MARCH 11]

As of right now, both conventions are still fully on. Comic-Con International released this statement on Tuesday, March 10 to 10News in San Diego:

“Comic-Con is working with local officials as it pertains to the COVID-19 situation and continues to monitor developments closely. At this time both shows, WonderCon Anaheim and Comic-Con in San Diego, are moving forward as scheduled. As always, the safety and security of all our attendees is of utmost importance. Please rest assured that these concerns are being taken very seriously and we will not make any decisions regarding the rescheduling of shows without weighing all considerations carefully.”

Obviously, this is a rapidly developing situation worldwide that could change at any moment, but Comic-Con clearly wants to push through if they can (as evidenced by the fact that they continue tweeting about badges and hotels). WonderCon, which is set for April 10-12, is the first convention on their docket — and will presumably be the first convention they’ll decide whether to continue moving forward with or not.

We know that for many exhibitors and fans, it can feel like everything is getting cancelled (as of press time, Emerald City Comic Con, SXSW, Coachella, and E3 are the big conventions/events to be cancelled). However, many other events have continued to happen across the US without incident (including C2E2, Supernatural Las Vegas, Wizard World Cleveland, and even the LA Marathon).

While Comic-Con International has not yet communicated directly with fans or exhibitors — the Anaheim Convention Center has. This is what they have announced they are doing to help stop the spread of disease in their convention center:

The Anaheim Convention Center:

has increased cleaning of door handles, elevator buttons, handrails and other frequently touched surfaces
has added additional hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the facility
has put in place signs and other messaging urging everyone to wash their hands and follow other public health best practices
is coordinating with event organizers on best practices
The convention center also works closely with Anaheim Fire & Rescue, the city’s fire, medical and emergency first responders, on planning and courses of action should we see coronavirus cases or should the situation in Orange County change.

So how does the situation in Orange County look right now? Currently, there have been three deaths in the entire state of California, and Orange County has reported two confirmed cases of coronavirus and three presumptive (but no deaths, as of publication time). According to the LA Times, “four of the people [in Orange County] contracted the virus through travel-related activities, and one got sick from person-to-person contact with someone who was ill”.

The LA Times also spoke with Orange County’s Chief Health Officer, Dr. Nichole Quick, who said, “[T]he flu is a much greater risk than coronavirus. Now, that being said, part of people’s fear related to this is we simply don’t know what this is going to look like. We don’t have wide enough testing to know how many people are infected across the country… Overall risk to residents of Orange County is low.”

Quick also added that the public can lessen the risk by following routine precautions, including washing hands regularly, covering their mouth when sneezing, or coughing and staying home when sick.

Disneyland, which is essentially across the street from WonderCon, also continues to operate as normal.

We’ll update more as the situation develops.