Detroit auto show cancelled, venue to be turned into an emergency field hospital
Organizers plan to bring the event back in June of 2021
The North American International Auto Show in Detroit will not be going ahead as planned this summer. Instead, the intended venue for the event, the TCF convention centre, is being turned into a temporary field hospital to help deal with the rapidly increasing number of cases of COVID-19 being detected in the area.
"Although we are disappointed, there is nothing more important to us than the health, safety and well-being of the citizens of Detroit and Michigan," NAIAS executive director Rod Alberts said in a statement.
"We will do what we can to support our community's fight against the coronavirus outbreak."
The annual event, which has taken place every year for the past 31 years, was set to take place June 13 to 20. It has now been postponed until next June.
There are 4,650 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Michigan, and 111 have died of the disease. Detroit is currently considered an emerging hotspot for the virus.
Alberts said that more than one hundred convention centres and facilities around the country are being considered for use as field hospitals.
"It became clear that the TCF Center would be an inevitable option to serve as a care facility to satisfy our community's urgent health needs," he said.