Vinitaly, the wine show for Italian wines, is to go ahead this year as scheduled, despite the presence of COVID-19 in Italy.
According to a report in Il Sole 24 Ora, the decision to go ahead was taken by the board of directors, along with Luca Zaia, president of the Veneto region and Federico Sboarina, mayor of Verona.
"Nobody is Nostradamus, but Veronafiere has consulted all institutional partners and stakeholders in the Italian wine industry to forge ahead as planned, with the best information available to date." Stevie Kim, the managing director of Vinitaly told Meininger's.
Tens of thousands of inhabitants of northern Italian towns are on lockdown in response to the coronavirus COVID-19, which has broken out in Italy, infecting more than 300 people. A number of public events have been cancelled, including the final days of Venice’s celebrated Carnival.
The outbreak is, however, centred in Lombardy and the city of Verona, the host of Vinitaly, is in Veneto.
Vinitaly will take place from 19 to 22 April 2020.
