Coronavirus cases have been confirmed in India, spiking people's fear for the deadly virus, which doesn't have a viable cure at the moment. After the Hyderabad techie was tested positive for Covid-19 after returning from Dubai, the district health unit has been screening people who might have been in contact with or in close proximity with the infected individual.
Stringent measures are in place to avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus and joining those efforts are two major smartphone brands, who have decided to cancel their biggest launch events. Xiaomi and Realme have confirmed that they won't be hosting on-ground launch events for Redmi Note 9 series and Realme 6 series, respectively.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 series launch in India
Xiaomi announced on Tuesday that it will not be conducting any on-ground launch events for its products in March, which mainly includes the Redmi Note 9 series unveiling. The decision was taken after reports of coronavirus have been spreading in India and some individuals have already been tested positive for the deadly virus.
"There is a global outbreak of Coronavirus COVID-19 that has affected people severely. Given this unprecedented situation, we have an important update for you. We won't be holding any launch events on-ground throughout March in India. While we've been planning this for months, we believe this step is crucial," Global VP at Xiaomi and India head Manu Kumar Jain, said.
But there's no reason for fans to be disappointed. The on-ground launch of the Redmi Note 9 series might be cancelled but the event will go as planned, except that fans will have to tune in to watch the live-stream of the unveiling. The Redmi Note 9 series launch is scheduled for March 12, 12 noon onwards. The event will be live-streamed across all social media channels, YouTube as well as Xiaomi's official website.
Realme 6 series launch in India
Shortly after Xiaomi announced that it would cancel all on-ground events in March, Realme also took a similar call. Realme CEO Madhav Sheth said that the Realme 6 series launch event will be an online-only affair.
"In light of current reports of #coronavirus impact & related advisory by health officials to maintain social distance as a precautionary measure, I'm calling off our biggest event. Will still give live speech in stadium with you watching #realme6series event online," Sheth said.
Realme 6 series will be launched in India on March 5. The company is expected to launch Realme 6, 6 Pro and a Realme smart band at the upcoming event. Fans can catch the live-stream of the event from the company's official social media handles or on YouTube.
