WASHINGTON (March 9, 2020) — The American College of Cardiology has made the difficult and unprecedented decision to cancel the ACC's Scientific Session Together with World Congress of Cardiology (ACC.20/WCC) scheduled to take place March 28-30, 2020 in Chicago.

The decision to cancel ACC's flagship annual event was not taken lightly. The College has been closely monitoring updates and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as state and local governments. In the last week, the College also learned of the increasing number of travel advisories and restrictions being placed on health care providers and hospitals and institutions in the U.S. and globally.

"The health, safety and well-being of our members, staff, exhibitors, faculty and other stakeholders is of paramount importance," said ACC President Richard J. Kovacs, MD, FACC "With an ever-increasing number of ACC members on the front lines of preparing and reacting to the COVID-19 outbreak, it is in the best interest of everyone to cancel the meeting and ensure our members are able to do what they do best – help and heal."

Please note the following important points for registered media:

ACC.20/WCC media registrations remain valid and will grant registered media access to the virtual presentation options that will be announced in the coming days.
More information on web-based press conferences scheduled for March 11 and March 17 will be distributed along with information on virtual content.
Existing embargoes and plans for simultaneous publications remain in place and are subject to the existing embargo policies.
ACC has prepared an initial FAQ document to help with answering travel, refund and other questions for attendees. This document will continue to be updated.

A meeting the size of ACC.20/WCC is years in the making and involves hundreds of member volunteers and staff, as well as generous support from partners and stakeholders and close collaboration with our host city. The ACC would like to recognize all of these individuals, particularly ACC.20/WCC Chair Andrew Kates, MD, FACC, and Vice-Chair Pamela Morris, MD, FACC, as well as World Heart Federation President Karen Sliwa, MD, Phd, FACC, WHF President-Elect Fausto Pinto, MD ,FACC, and WHF CEO Jean Luc Eisele and his team, for all of their work.

Preparing for COVID-19

The College is fully committed to helping all health professionals who treat cardiovascular patients prepare for COVID-19. ACC has issued and updated the clinical bulletin addressing the cardiac implications of the novel Wuhan Coronavirus (COVID-19). The original clinical bulletin was issued in February.

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