Here's the statement…
To protect public health and slow the rate of transmission of COVID-19, the California Department of Public Health announced a recommendation that gatherings and events of more than 250 people should either be postponed or cancelled. Comic-Con (organizer of WonderCon) will abide by this recommendation. Therefore WonderCon Anaheim, scheduled for April 10-12, 2020 in Anaheim, California, will be postponed until a later date. We will begin processing refunds in the coming days.
We continue to work closely with officials in San Diego and at this time no decision has been made regarding the rescheduling of Comic-Con slated to take place this summer; July 23-26, 2020. We urge everyone to follow the recommendations set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and your local health officials.
I guess this surprises no one. Oddly enough, here's how I heard. I was in my doctor's office, discussing my health (I'm fine) and this whole mess (it's not). He told me, among other things, to avoid crowds. Here is how the exchange went…
ME: I avoid crowds anyway. There's a comic book convention in Anaheim one month from now but I'm figuring a 99.9% chance of it being postponed.
DOC: If you have any clout with them, encourage them to make it 100%.
ME: Hold on. I just got a text message. [reads text message] Okay. It's 100%.
Anyway, that's all I know about it. I'm pretty sure the answers to the two main questions — "What will the new dates be?" and "Will this mean Comic-Con won't happen on schedule?" is "They'll figure that out when they know more." One of the many maddening/scary things about this virus is how little is known about it. Remember how earlier today I said that people who don't know should learn to say "I don't know"? I didn't have Mr. Trump in mind when I wrote that and it certainly doesn't apply only to him…
…but his claims that the virus would be gone any day now, it was all contained, it would certainly be gone when the weather got warmer, etc…those soundbites will go down in history as the stupidest fuckin' things a President of the United States ever said. It's only mid-March and Politifact already has its Lie of the Year. They just have to pick from among a dozen or so.