Nobel Prize banquet cancelled over coronavirus

STOCKHOLM: The Nobel Foundation, which manages the Nobel Prizes, on Tuesday cancelled its traditional December banquet due to the Covid-19 pandemic, though the award ceremonies will still be held in "new forms".

This is the first time since 1956 that the banquet has been cancelled, according to the foundation.

"The Nobel week will not be as it usually is due to the current pandemic. This is a very special year when everyone needs to make sacrifices and adapt to completely new circumstances," Lars Heikensten, director of the Nobel Foundation, said in a statement.

Heikensten added that the laureates would be highlighted in "different ways" along with "their discoveries and works".

The lavish Nobel Banquet traditionally marks the end of the so-called Nobel Week in December, when the year's prize winners are invited to Stockholm for talks and the award ceremony.