Virtual Google I/O canned due to coronavirus lockdown orders
In no way, shape, or form, will Google I/O happen this year, the search giant announced over the weekend.
"Out of concern for the health and safety of our developers, employees, and local communities -- and in line with recent 'shelter in place' orders by the local Bay Area counties -- we sadly will not be holding I/O in any capacity this year," a notice on the conference's website states.
"Right now, the most important thing all of us can do is focus our attention on helping people with the new challenges we all face. Please know that we remain committed to finding other ways to share platform updates with you through our developer blogs and community forums. "
The search giant announced earlier in March it was shifting I/O to a digital format.
This was a similar shift to its Cloud Next conference, which was first moved to an online format, before it was postponed last week.
Soon after Google postponed Cloud Next, the Bay Area counties began to issue shelter in place orders, which was followed by a California-wide order on Thursday evening.
At the time of writing, the World Health Organization was reporting over 294,000 confirmed cases, with almost 13,000 fatalities as a result of the virus. The United States has reported over 15,000 cases and 200 deaths.