COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

History
First discovered in the Hubei province in China, the disease has spread globally since 2019, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic, declared by the World Health Organization in March 2020.

Causes, symptoms and diagnosis
The infection is spread from one person to others via respiratory droplets, often produced during coughing and sneezing. Time from exposure to onset of symptoms is generally between two and fourteen days, with an average of five days.

Common symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Muscle pain, sputum production and sore throat are less common symptoms. While the majority of cases result in mild symptoms, some progress to pneumonia and multi-organ failure. The deaths per the number of diagnosed cases is estimated at between 1% and 5% but varies by age and other health conditions.

The standard method of diagnosis is by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) from a nasopharyngeal swab or throat swab. The infection can also be diagnosed from a combination of symptoms, risk factors, and a chest CT scan showing features of pneumonia.

Prevention and management
Recommended measures to prevent the disease include frequent hand washing, maintaining distance from other people and not touching one's face. The use of masks was initially recommended for those who suspect they have the virus and their caregivers but not the general public, but as evidence mounted that people can become infectious prior to displaying symptoms, universal face coverings is now mandatory in several states. As of early 2020, there is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for COVID-19; management involves treatment of symptoms, supportive care and experimental measures.

Mascots
Thailand introduced in 2020 COVID-Kun, an anthropomorphic red viral particle with spikes, three eyes, and sharp fangy teeth, for the purpose of teaching children on how to wash their hands and maintain social distancing.

On January 17, 2020, an anonymous 4chan user coined the catchphrase Corona-chan in a /pol/ board thread to describe the coronavirus itself. Four days later, on January 21, 2020, an anonymous 4chan user posted a drawing of a young Asian woman dressed in a red Cheongsam dress, holding a Chinese flag and a bottle of Corona beer in her hands, to the /pol/ board.

Many variants of the character, sexual or not, often invoking Rule 34, Rule 63, Rule 85, and furry differings have appeared all over the net.

COVID-19 and furry
Multiple furry events have been delayed, cancelled, postponed, rescheduled or restricted to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These include:

Conventions

 * Alamo City Furry Invasion 2020 - Postponed to 2021
 * Anthro Northwest 2020 - Postponed until November 18-21 2021
 * Anthro SouthEast 2020 -P Postponed until October 29-31, 2021
 * Anthro Weekend Utah 2020 - Postponed until July 16-18, 2021
 * Anthrocon 2020 - Cancelled
 * Anthrocon 2021 - Cancelled
 * AnthrOhio 2020 - Cancelled
 * Aquatifur 2020 - Cancelled
 * Aurawra 2020 - Postponed until 2021
 * Brasil FurFest 2020 - Postponed until 2021
 * Biggest Little Fur Con 2020 - Postponed to Halloween weekend
 * Blue Ridge Furfare 2020 - Restricted on Sunday March 15, 2020 to comply with North Carolina's executive order banning gatherings of more than 100 people
 * Camp Feral! 2020 - Cancelled
 * Camp Tiny Paws 2020 - Postponed until August 13-15, 2021
 * CanFURence - Cancelled
 * City Fur 2020 - Cancelled
 * ConFuror 2020 - All on-site activities cancelled
 * ConFurtiva 2020 - Postponed to November 20-22, 2020
 * ConFuzzled 2020 - Cancelled
 * DenFur 2020 - Rescheduled for August 2021
 * Dutch Furcon 2020 - Rescheduled to Summer of 2021
 * EAST 2020 - Postponed to July 14-18, 2021
 * Eurofurence 26 - Cancelled
 * FA: United - Permanently cancelled
 * Fauntastic 2020 - Postponed to November 20-22
 * Flüüfff 2020 - Postponed to November 10–14, 2021
 * Fur Squared 2021 - Cancelled
 * FurCan 2020 - Cancelled
 * FurCan 2021 -Postponed until December 10-12
 * Furcation 2020 - Cancelled
 * Fur-Eh! 2020 - Postponed until July 15-18, 2021
 * FurDU 2020 - Postponed until May 7-9, 2021
 * Furizon 2020 - Cancelled
 * Furnal Equinox 2020 - Cancelled
 * Furnexion 2020 - Postponed
 * Furpocalypse 2020 - Postponed to 2021
 * Furry Fiesta 2021 - The last in situ furry convention of 2020, moved to virtual convention status in 2021.
 * Furry Migration 2020 - Rescheduled to September 10-12, 2021
 * Furry Retreat 2020 - Cancelled
 * Furry Siesta 2020 - Cancelled
 * Furry Summer Mexico 2020 - Postponed to November 21-22, 2020
 * Furry Summer Mexico 2021 -Permanently cancelled
 * Furry Weekend Atlanta 2020 - Cancelled
 * Furry Weekend Atlanta 2021 - Cancelled
 * Furry Weekend Holland 2020 - Cancelled
 * Furrydelphia 2020 - Cancelled
 * FurryPinas 2020 - Postponed
 * Furs Upon Malaysia 2020 - Postponed to December 11-12, 2021
 * FursonaCon 2020 - Cancelled
 * Further Confusion 2021 - Cancelled
 * FURUM 2020 - Cancelled
 * Furway 2020 - Cancelled
 * Gateway FurMeet 2020 - Cancelled
 * Golden Leaves Con 2020 - Postponed to October 27-31 2021
 * Golden State Fur Con 2020 - Postponed
 * IndyFurCon 2020 - Cancelled
 * Just Fur The Weekend 2020 - Postponed until 2021
 * Lakeside Furs 2020 - Cancelled
 * Little Island Furcon 2020 - Postponed to March 13-14, 2021
 * Megaplex 2020 - Postponed until August 21-23, 2021
 * Mephit Fur Meet 2020 - Cancelled
 * Mephit Mini Con 2020 - Cancelled
 * Midwest Furfest 2020 - Rescheduled to December 3-5, 2021
 * Motor City Furry Con 2020 - Postponed until 2021
 * New Year's Eve Con 2020/21 - Cancelled
 * PAWAI 2020 - Cancelled
 * PawCon 2020 - Postponed until November 5-8, 2021
 * Sin City Murr Con 2020 - Postponed
 * SpokAnthro 2020 - Cancelled
 * South AfriFur 2020 - Postponed
 * Tails and Tornadoes 2020 - Cancelled
 * Thaitails 2020 - Postponed
 * Western Pennsylvania Furry Weekend 2020 - Cancelled
 * Wild Nights 2020 - Postponed until 2021
 * Wild Prairie Fur Con 2020 - Cancelled
 * Woods Flock 2020 - Cancelled
 * WUFF 2020 - Cancelled until 2021
 * ZodiaCon 2020 - Cancelled

Furmeets

 * Aurora Furs meets - Cancelled until further notice
 * Cabincon 2020 - Postponed to 2021
 * Chicagoland Furs Meet Up - Postponed until further notice
 * Delaware Furbowl 74 - Moved from March 28, 2020, to May 30, 2020
 * DFW Furs furmeet - Cancelled until further notice
 * Georgia Furs events - Postponed for the month of March 2020
 * Hendertucky furmeet - Cancelled
 * KentFurs furmeet - Cancelled until further notice
 * Leeds Furmeet - Cancelled for March
 * Madison Furry Bowling - Cancelled for the month of March 2020
 * MassFurBowl - Cancelled for the month of March 2020
 * Megaplex Annual Picnic 2020 - Cancelled
 * Midwest FurBowl - Postponed until further notice
 * Minnesota Furs events - Cancelled until further notice
 * Otterdance - Postponed
 * Pittsburgh Furbowl - Postponed, perhaps to May
 * Shawnee Fur Bowl - Cancelled for March
 * SoCal FurBQ - Cancelled
 * TourDeFur - Cancelled
 * Utah FurBowl - Suspended until further notice
 * Warsaw Monthly Furmeet - Cancelled until further notice

Other COVID-19/furry developments
IMVU's Fur Affinity will offer help for those furry conventions impacted by COVID-19 by giving them free advertising.

The Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association announced that the results of the 2019 Ursa Major Awards would be via a video presentation as securing a venue was impossible due to COVID-19. The award's presentation was published on YouTube on May 23, 2020.

Online conventions
Several people and organizations are scheduling online-only conventions via streaming (Picarto, Twitch) and the use of popular social media apps like Twitter, Facebook, Discord and Telegram, among others. These include:


 * CouchCon - An established furry/anthro online con, already operating since 2019, that took place on June 25-28, 2020.
 * Cozy Con - A self described "spiritual successor to Tigerdile's HomeCon", their first event was held on May 2-3, 2020, with a second event taking place on September 19-20, 2020.
 * Down Home FurCon (DHFC) - A Texas based online con, held on May 1-3, 2020.
 * eFaun - An online convention taking the place of Fauntastic 2020, it was held on Discord (in French) during the afternoon and evening of April 11, 2020.
 * Eurofurence Online (EFO) - Livestreamed various panels, a concert by Fox Amoore and Pepper Coyote, and a Pawpets show from August 21–23, 2020. Part of EFO was hosted by VirtualFurence, who hosted a virtual reality dance competition hosted within VRChat.
 * Furality (FOX) - A virtual reality convention hosted on the VRChat platform, scheduled for the weekend of May 22-24, 2020.
 * Furcific Northwest - An online convention held on May 3-9, 2020.
 * Furry Weekend At-Home - An online extension for the COVID-19 cancelled furry convention Furry Weekend Atlanta, was hosted both on its own streaming site, Furryweekend.tv, with Twitch offering expanded venues. It was promoted under the hashtag #FurryWeekend.
 * FURSAverance - An online convention aimed at South Africa [[furries, but open to all, which took place on June 27-28, 2020
 * Hex Furryfest - An online Electronic dance music (EDM) festival hosted on July 17-19, 2020 via Twitch, Discord, and VRChat featuring furry DJs.
 * Keep Calm & Carry Con: Furnal Isolation (KeepCalmCon) - An online extension for both the cancelled furry convention Furnal Equinox 2020 and Toronto Comicon 2020, held on March 20-22, 2020
 * Megaplex Online - The online iteration of the pre-existing Megaplex furry convention, which will be hosted on August 21-23, 2020.
 * VR JMoF - A virtual alternative to the Japanese furry convention Japan Meeting of Furries hosted on January 10-12, 2020 on VRChat.
 * OwOmaCon - An online convention based in Omaha, Nebraska, scheduled for October 24-25, 2020.
 * Virtual Anthrocon - An online extension for the canceled 2020 Anthrocon, it hosted the convention online on July 3-5, 2020, with a virtual dealers den and fursuit dance competition alongside other events. The event will be live streamed via Anthrocon.tv.
 * Virtual ConFuzzled - An online stream of the panels from the cancelled 2020 ConFuzzled, accompanied by an online dealers den and charity auction from May 20–24, 2020.
 * Virtual Furry Con (VFC) - A online Belgian convention held on Discord on May 1-3, 2020, with online art streaming, chatrooms and both Jackbox Games and live game streaming.
 * Virtual Furry Fiesta - An online extension to Furry Fiesta 2021, held from March 26 to March 28, 2021.

Furries affected by COVID-19

 * Vappyvap - Died April 22, 2020
 * Narka Zirkus - Died May 26, 2020
 * Vil'kami Wolf - Died June 11, 2020
 * NovaGecko Died September 2020 (exact date unknown)
 * ConnorCoon - Died January 27, 2021
 * Luckyhappylily - Recovered January 2021.

Media

 * Conventions Cancelled By Corona Contagion — On March 20-22, Log On For KeepCalmCon article on Dogpatch Press
 * COVID-19 pandemic causes furry convention closures and delays worldwide article on Flayrah
 * Atlanta furry convention canceled due to coronavirus article from the New York Post
 * Anthrocon 2020, Pittsburgh’s Furry convention, canceled due to COVID-19 concerns article from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
 * Anthrocon 2020 is officially canceled article from the Pittsburgh City Paper
 * As Coronavirus Spreads, Artists Are Coping With Waifus and Fursona Art article on Vice