After initially rescheduling the forum from May to the late-summer months, the World Economic Forum has decided to cancel its annual gathering of powerhouses in the worlds of markets, business and politics, which is usually held in Davos, Switzerland, but had been moved to Singapore in the face of the coronavirus, according to Bloomberg. 

Back in February, the WEF announced that it would delay the week-long event until August, hoping that would give it enough time. But as India's COVID-19 outbreak continues to spill across Asia, while a mutant strain first identified in India has finally been traced to the US.

As Brits travel on their first international flights in more than a year, the WEF announced Monday that it would cancel its annual meeting in Singapore as the city-state sees a jump in COVID-19 cases.

Singapore's new restrictions announced over the weekend include requiring all primary, secondary and junior colleges to shift to full home-based learning from Wednesday until the end of the school year later this month.

This comes after health authorities in the city-state confirmed 38 locally transmitted cases, the highest daily number since mid-September, with 17 currently unlinked. The cases included four children linked to a cluster at a tuition center.

In recent years, the WEF and its attendees have taken up the twin causes of climate change and economic inequality (which are linked, scholars say, because the 'global south' will bear the brunt of the negative impact of climate, or at least that's what they say). Which is ironic, since the best thing the WEF could possibly do to lower carbon emissions would be to cancel the annual event, which draws legions of private jets ferrying the global elite.