MikeMirzayanov's blog

Morocco Refuses to Host African Cup of Nations 2015 Due to Ebola Virus. What about ACM-ICPC WF 2015?
By MikeMirzayanov, 10 years ago, In English

Hello,

I'm really starting to think that plans to host ACM-ICPC World Finals bring misfortune. ACM-ICPC World Finals 2011 initially were planned to be in Egypt, but revolution has changed plans.

What do you think about chance to drop World Finals in Morocco because of Ebola Virus?

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10 years ago, # |
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I don't think ACM ICPC World (or all universe) final can attract any amounts of people that can be compared with usual African Cup of Nations attendance statistics, so I don't see any objective reasons to change host country (mb only by some another reason than infection spreading, as it is for ACN). Of course, everyone have higher individual chances to be infected with some virus. But it's usual situation for southern countries and the only thing you can do is to try to don't let it happen, just like famous russian tourists (and mb belarus :D) usually do.

By the way, it's good opportunity for another country (or even university) to create scandal from nothing and try to become host this year, just like many politicians usually do (don't lose your chance :D).

UPD I've failed quarterfinal yesterday and I'm not going anywhere, think twice before listening me.

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10 years ago, # |
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I think it won't happen because There is a huge amount of work to make the event happen.
We are very proud to host the event this year and don't think something like what happened to African cup will happen to ICPC.

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10 years ago, # |
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Is there any statistics about Ebola in Morocco?

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    10 years ago, # ^ |
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    So far there are no cases in Morocco. But the virus has already reached Mali (which is rather close to Morocco), so it is only a matter of time before the fun starts there too.

    Though there's Sahara desert between Morocco and the outbreak, so there are chances that vaccine will be developed earlier than the virus reaches the country (I guess crossing the desert while being infected with Ebola is quite challenging).

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      10 years ago, # ^ |
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      I think saying that the virus has already reached Mali is a bit of an overstatement — according to the WHO, there has been just one case there, that's 4 times less than in the United States.

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10 years ago, # |
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Morocco refused to host African Cup of Nations because they want protect Morocco from ebola, not the other way around. I do not believe teams from parts of Africa other then Northern Africa and RSA would qualify

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10 years ago, # |
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I think the Ebola Virus will be the best choice comparing to the current situation here in Egypt.

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    10 years ago, # ^ |
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    My brain is having hard time trying to parse this statement :D The ACPC is going to be held in Egypt.. Anyway, Morocco is working hard to host the event and there are a few months ahead; so lots of things could change in that period of time. Hope to see you all here in Morocco :)

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      10 years ago, # ^ |
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      Actually, I'm having a hard time myself convincing my parents to let me go to the ACPC as a Volunteer, it's 12 hours far from my city. I hope it goes safe and we all enjoy it.

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        10 years ago, # ^ |
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        Why is that? I went to ACPC 2013 in Sharm, Egypt and everything seemed to be perfectly safe. I returned from Sharm to Alexandria by bus, and Sharm itself was full of tourists.

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          10 years ago, # ^ |
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          So, you're from Egypt and don't know about anything happening in Sinaa these days? :D

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            10 years ago, # ^ |
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            Hmm, how come you jumped to the conclusion that I'm from Egypt? I'm not Egyptian. Maybe I should have clarified that I took a plane from Alexandria back to my country. Anyhow, is Sharm no longer safe? What about the roads between Sharm and major cities?

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        10 years ago, # ^ |
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        Come on! your travel still hundreds times safer than my travel through Syrian cities (I have to travel to the city where there is airport then go to Egypt) just tell your parents that and they will be convinced

        my travel is also 12 hours (excluding plane travel time)

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          10 years ago, # ^ |
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          Yeah you're absolutely right, may god be with you

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        10 years ago, # ^ |
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        Well, I'm struggling just to get a visa so that I can participate in the ACPC this year after I have qualified to it.

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10 years ago, # |
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Things change so fast, you never know how would the situation be like after few months.

Anyway, a game of Football in Africa attracts around 50K supporters in average in one stadium, that's much crowd. On the other hand, in the ACM-ICPC WF, each team has a surrounding space of about 7 to 10 m^2 (as told by the officials), the only sort of crowd may be during the opening/closing ceremony, gathering points and so, but after all, however crowded the contestants were (3*120?), they are still comparable to some classes in big universities (some classes have 1K+ students), and my comparable to cinemas and theaters, so, if it is serious, then it's expected that schools would hang up their activities, including the ACM-ICPC competitions.

All in all, let's all wish we have a nice and fair competition, wherever the host is.

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    10 years ago, # ^ |
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    It's not about the number of individuals only, it's also about different people from different countries from more than 50 countries I assume. The risk of this virus spreading to these people is not confining themselves or the people around them only, but the whole world!

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      10 years ago, # ^ |
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      I think that much more people from much more countries travel to Morocco everyday. ICPC WF is an event negligible in scale compared to, say, an airport being open.

      In this case, lack of publicity related to programming contests is a good thing — not only is there a lower chance of shit going on, but also a lower chance of anyone official actually taking notice of it even happening.

      BTW the chances of contracting Ebola are pretty low — all you have to do is stay away from (and quarantine) anyone that shows symptoms.

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      10 years ago, # ^ |
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      I understand your point, but what I mean is, the situation is by far much more controllable than that of the African Cup of Nations, especially that most of the contestants come from countries where no cases have been reported.

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10 years ago, # |
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72B can host the World Finals safely. B| fegla say welcome to your guests!

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