Tamworth coronavirus: fears of pandemic force events to cancel, postpone

The Little Athletics state championships, which were to be held in Sydney this weekend, and the NRMA Bright Futures Roadshow, which had been organised for Tamworth on both Saturday and Sunday, have also been cancelled.

The events join the Tamworth Regional Business Summit which has been postponed after guest speakers expressed concern about travelling to the city.

The Tamworth Business Chamber confirmed the decision on Friday afternoon.

"Given the current travel alerts, we have no choice but to be understanding ... and ensure the best health and safety for all concerned," chamber president Jye Segboer told the Leader.

The summit was due to be held from March 17 to March 19, but has been moved to October this year.

The call to change the date came after guest speakers and presenters expressed concerns about travelling during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Around 30 people including workshop presenters, keynote speakers and staff were set to travel to Tamworth from numerous destinations.

The speakers elected not to come to the event, Mr Segboer said.

"We had to make a decision whether or not to proceed."

Recovering from the economic fallout of COVID-19 will be part of discussions at the summit when it runs later in the year.

"Business resilience was the theme of the summit and helping businesses through hard times such as drought and bushfire and now [coronavirus] will certainly play a part in that," Mr Segboer said.

Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh was expected to speak at the event.

She told the Leader regional areas like Tamworth could feel an economic blow before the virus even hits.

"Even regions and towns where the health impact has yet to be felt, there will be many businesses starting to experience impacts on their supply chain," Ms Bligh said.

As of Friday afternoon there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tamworth.

The the date of the conference and the guest speakers will be confirmed next week. Everyone who registered will have their booking transferred to the new date.

On Friday afternoon, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled from Monday.

The escalating situation has sparked a number of large events to fold.

State championships for Little Athletics were set to be held at Olympic Park in Sydney at the weekend, but have been cancelled due to coronavirus.

Melissa O'Connell of Tamworth Little Athletics said it's a shame, but it's for the right reasons.

"At the end of the day, everyone's health is more important," she said.

"We will have to wait and see, but from what I understand, it will be off this year.

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"Rescheduling it for some other point this year seems pretty much impossible because people come from all over the state.

"Hopefully this is the only thing we will have cancelled for the year."

The NRMA Bright Futures roadshow was expected to host an art and music festival at Bicentennial Park in in Tamworth at the weekend, but was also cancelled.

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