The coronavirus put a dent in a software conference that kicked off Thursday — one of many events throughout the region that have been scaled back or curtailed as the virus spreads across the state.

SCALE, an open-source software conference being held at Pasadena Convention Center, has lost some of its scheduled speakers and exhibitors over fears of the spreading coronavirus.

Conference Chairman Ilan Rabinovitch said fewer classes will be held as a result.

“We haven’t seen attendees who don’t want to come, but a subset of speakers who were coming on behalf of their employers aren’t going to be here,” he said. “Out of an abundance of caution, their employers have banned travel for now.”

Rather than cancel the event, as others have done, LinuxFests, the nonprofit group that organized the event, worked with the convention center in recent weeks to put precautions are in place. Safeguards include:

Fully equipped hand-washing stations in restrooms throughout the facility and hand-sanitizer wipes at all food and beverage locations

Routine cleaning and disinfecting of all frequently touched surfaces, such as doorknobs, banisters and countertops

Adherence to all public health regulations at food concession stands and hosted catering food services

Pre-packaged food containers and food covers at all food services areas

The economic fallout is occurring amid growing concern over spread of the virus. On Wednesday, Pasadena, Los Angeles and Los Angeles County officials declared a local state of emergency related to the coronavirus, also referred to as COVID-19.

Four additional cases of the virus were confirmed Thursday in L.A. County. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported that all four people had traveled to northern Italy where there is an outbreak of COVID-19.

‘No immediate threat’

The L.A. County Department of Public Health said there is currently “no immediate threat” to the general public and advised residents and visitors to go about their regular activities while practicing good public health hygiene. There have been no reported cases of COVID-19 in Pasadena.

The SCALE convention, which runs through Sunday, offers classes, exhibits and other educational resources to visitors regarding open-source software.

“Open-source software is software that is communally developed,” Rabinovtich said. “Folks can share source codes that are used to build software like Firefox or Signal.”

Rabinovitch said he couldn’t yet comment on a refund policy for visitors who were counting on attending classes that may have been cancelled.

“We have also had cancelled food and beverage orders,” he said. “But all of the different vendors we work with still expect us to hit certain minimums, so when someone pulls out of a sponsorship that hurts us financially. As a nonprofit volunteer group, we run things on a razor-thin margin. We usually look to at least break even, but it’s not clear if that will be the case this year.”

Cancellations, postponed events are expected

The Pasadena Convention Center hosts about 300 events a year and so far there have been no cancellations, according to Christine Susa, the venue’s marketing and communications director.

“We haven’t had any cancellations although there have been conversations about it,” she said. “Clients are evaluating their options.”

Jeanne Goldschmidt, executive director of the Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau, said some events will likely be canceled because companies won’t want their employees traveling or attending crowded events during the COVID-19 outbreak.

“We just have to be flexible and work with clients,” she said. “Some organizations may want to cancel or postpone events, and a lot of hard work has gone into the planning. If it’s a smaller event that just requires a couple of rooms we can probably shuffle that around and still fit it into our calendar. But if a group booked the entire center and wanted to postpone their event they probably wouldn’t be able to come back until next year.”

The biggest challenge for the Pasadena Convention Center and similar venues is all of the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, Goldschmidt said.

“People are always more hesitant to make future plans when they are dealing with the unknown,” she said. “All we can do is reassure them that there are no cases in Pasadena. We’re cleaning public surfaces and recommending that people follow public health practices and food regulations. All of that is being done here. We’ll know more in two weeks.”

The U.S. coronavirus death toll rose to 12 on Thursday, the Washington Post reported, as another death was confirmed in Washington state. California is under a state of emergency, and a cruise ship carrying some 2,500 passengers, en route from Hawaii to San Francisco, was held off the coast for coronavirus testing.