This is a very big deal and a huge disruption to the US physics community. Many participants are already there or en route; many others have non-refundable travel booked. 10,000 participants were expected. #APSMarch
The official program was scheduled to kick off in less than 36 hours.
It’s hard to fathom the cost in time and money of 10,000 physicists suddenly canceling plans and trying to talk their funders into giving reimbursements for travel they booked but didn’t take. Not to mention the loss for the APS itself. Maybe necessary, but a really extreme step.
