VIENNA, March 3. /TASS/. OPEC Secretariat has limited the number of participants in the ministerial meetings on March 4-6 to a minimum and fully closed the access to the Secretariat office for press. This is according to an advisory for journalists covering the meeting.
"In light of the COVID-19 outbreak and after consultations with various authorities, members of the press will not be allowed to enter the OPEC Secretariat building for the 18th Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, the 178th (Extraordinary) Meeting of the OPEC Conference and the 8th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting," the media advisory says.
"We are also limiting the number of OPEC and non-OPEC delegates at the OPEC Secretariat to a bare minimum and have taken a raft of recommended precautionary measures to mitigate the potential risk of anyone being exposed to COVID-19," according to the document.
Reporters will also have no access to the Secretariat office on March 5-6, when OPEC and non-OPEC countries will discuss the oil production limiting deal, three sources in the Organization told TASS on Tuesday.
"We will regrettably have to limit access for all mass media. These are security measures in view of the coronavirus," one of the sources said. The decision was made "after consultations with healthcare authorities," two other sources added. The decision became known after most of the journalists traditionally covering the OPEC+ meeting had already arrived in Vienna.