Sharjah24 – AFP: The CES tech show threw open its doors Wednesday in Las Vegas despite surging Covid-19 cases in the United States, as one of the world's largest trade fairs tried to get back to business.

Despite some obvious gaps on the showfloor -- after high-profile companies like Amazon and Google cancelled over climbing virus risk -- crowds of badge-wearing tech entrepreneurs, reporters and aficionados poured through venues.

"Since the numbers of people are down, there's a lot more space between people. My anxiety levels are fine," said attendee Blake Olson, who noted though that the energy level was lower, likely because of the smaller crowd.

But the usual universe of tech gadgets, concepts and prototypes, ranging from humanoid robots to autonomous cars, were on display.

Organizers cited their vaccine and mask requirements, while insisting the show -- with participants from nearly two dozen nations -- had to go on.

Some health experts have voiced caution that people may not universally respect the mask mandate.

The event has been cut back by a day to end Friday, and the scale of the show will be sharply reduced with fewer than half the roughly 4,500 exhibitors that turned up for the last in-person edition in 2020 -- just before pandemic lockdowns hit the United States.

The hybrid nature of the gathering was in evidence even in its opening moments, with GM CEO Mary Barra delivering her keynote address remotely.