Did FIDE leadership ignore the risk?
In the end Dvorkovich (and FIDE) got what he wanted. He risked holding an extraordinary FIDE Congress in the UAE (February 26 to March 1) while the coronavirus was compelling other congresses to cancel or postpone, and FIDE was rewarded with a guarantee that the UAE would fund the upcoming World Chess Championship match later this year.
What is happening in the UAE today
The UAE is not as open for business as it was a few days ago. After a coronavirus scare in a Cycling race — while FIDE met in Abu Dhabi — that obliged the government to lock down two Abu Dhabi hotels (and many are still being held in quarantine inside as I write this) others are cancelling their planned business trips to the UAE.
As well, while most schools are not being closed for the time being, the government has alerted all schools and universities to immediately ‘suspend all gatherings’.
POST SCRIPT
It was announced today (Tuesday) that all public schools and universities will be closed for a minimum of 4 weeks.
