Salesforce made its upcoming Australian conference, which usually attracts tens of thousands, an online-only event due to coronavirus fears

• Salesforce announced last week that it is making its upcoming conference in Australia an all-virtual event, due to concerns over the coronavirus.
• The annual in-person event reportedly attracts tens of thousands of technology leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region.
• Salesforce said it was taking these steps to ensure it is "taking every precaution to look after our customers, partners, and employees."
• Salesforce's Sydney conference joins many other tech conferences that have been canceled due to coronavirus concerns.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Salesforce is making its upcoming conference in Australia an all-virtual event to be streamed online, due to concerns over the coronavirus disease, COVID-19. The company announced the change last week, saying it was monitoring the situation closely and taking every precaution.

The now-virtual conference, called World Tour Sydney Reimagined, is set for March 4. The annual in-person event reportedly attracts tens of thousands of technology leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region.

"Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our stakeholders. Over the last few months, we have been closely monitoring the evolving situation with the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak to ensure we are taking every precaution to look after our customers, partners, and employees," the company said in a statement.

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Salesforce's Sydney conference joins many other tech conferences that have been canceled due to coronavirus concerns.

Workday canceled its annual internal sales conference in Orlando next week, also turning it into a virtual event. The organizers of the Mobile World Congress, the world's largest trade show for the mobile phone industry that takes place in Barcelona, said earlier this month they would cancel the event. Facebook has canceled its Global Marketing Summit, saying it was "out of an abundance of caution."

The virus has spread to every province and region in China as well at least 40 other countries, with more than 81,000 people infected worldwide. Over the weekend, South Korea, Italy and Iran reported a significant increase in cases.

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines for businesses if the coronavirus spreads through the United States, prompting companies to be more cautious.

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