February 28, 2020
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has decided to postpone a meeting with leaders of Southeast Asian countries it had planned to host on March 14 due to worries about the coronavirus outbreak, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter said on Friday.
U.S. President Donald Trump had invited leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to meet in Las Vegas after he did not attend a summit with the group in Bangkok in November.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The decision comes amid growing fears that the virus will spread in the United States as countries report new infections, companies announce curbs on employees’ travel and global stock markets continue to plummet.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said on Monday preparations for the meeting were going ahead in spite of the coronavirus outbreak.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper, David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler and Sonya Hepinstall)
