Qatar calls off defense event over COVID-19

Qatar on Tuesday cancelled a defense exhibition scheduled for this month as the COVID-19 is spreading throughout the Gulf and Middle East.

The Doha International Maritime Defense Exhibition and Conference cancelled the seventh edition of the event after it "held extensive consultations with health ministry and Qatari government officials about its convening," the organizing panel said in a statement.

"Although the risks to the public are still low, our main priority is to maintain public health in Qatar. For this reason, it was decided not to hold this event," the statement noted.

There have been more than 2,000 cases of the COVID-19 in the Gulf region, mostly in Iran where 77 people have died of the virus so far.

The World Health Organization, which already declared the outbreak an international health emergency, has updated the global risk level to "very high."