UCW file photo
After Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency March 10 in response to the coronavirus, we at Charlotte Media Group decided to postpone our Thrive Over 55 Senior Expo, originally scheduled for March 20, to May 16.
We just want to ensure people in our community are safe, especially considering adults over the age of 65 are at higher risk of severe illness from coronavirus.
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Since the country’s first reported case of the coronavirus, we’ve been paying close attention to the information provided by local, state and federal health departments and deliberating on potential adjustments to our event. Then came the latest recommendations from the state that those at higher risk should avoid larger groups of people as much as possible.
While there have been no reported cases of coronavirus in the Charlotte region, Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris anticipates it will inevitably arrive at some point given how much happens here. And when Charlotte does report its first handful of cases of coronavirus, the state will likely recommend organizers of mass gatherings involving higher risk people consider canceling or postponing events as they have done for the Triangle area.
Our staff has already started reaching out to vendors and those who have registered to tell them about the postponed expo.
“No one is more disappointed about this news than we are,” Publisher Adrian Garson said of the postponement. “We look forward to serving the seniors in our community every year and we put months of hard work into making the expo fun and beneficial for everyone involved.”
I agree with Adrian. I usually get grouchy about events that take me away from writing or working on our newspapers, but the senior expo is one of my favorite things about working here.
We’ll continue to monitor what the health experts are saying leading up to our May 16 expo. The whole point of the expo is to enhance the quality of life of adults in our area by connecting them to resources, not germs, viruses or diseases.
Want to go?
The Thrive Over 55 Senior Expo has been postponed to May 16. It will span from 9 a.m. to noon at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews.
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