India: Cricket event suspended amid COVID-19 fears

CHANDIGARH, India

A day after India reported its first death due to the novel coronavirus, the country's cricket authority suspended the Indian Premier League (IPL) until April 15, 2020, as a "precautionary measure."

"The BCCI [Board of Control for Cricket in India] is concerned and sensitive about all its stakeholders, and public health in general, and it is taking all necessary steps to ensure that, all people related to IPL including fans have a safe cricketing experience," the cricket board said in a statement.

The league's matches, which regularly attract large crowds, are annually held across the country.

Earlier in the day, the government of Delhi state had prohibited sports gatherings, including the IPL, in the capital New Delhi as the number of cases in India increased to 81.

"It is hereby directed that all sports gathering including IPL/conferences/seminars beyond 200 people are prohibited in NCT [National capital territory] of Delhi for the purpose of prevention and control of the outbreak of epidemic disease namely COVID-19," read an order issued by Delhi government on Friday.

The Health Ministry updated the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the country to 81 as of Friday, with 17 being foreign nationals.

The ministry said that three patients have so far recovered from the virus, which has caused the death of one person in the South Asian nation with 1.3 billion population.

In another order, the Delhi government announced the closure of educational institutions, swimming pools and movie theaters until March 31.

In a series of tweets earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to take precautions and not panic as the number of cases continues to rise.

Indian has suspended most visas until April 15 to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. The order will come into force from 5.30 p.m. local time (1200GMT) on Friday.

After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 123 countries and territories.

The global death toll is now over 5,000, with more than 132,000 confirmed cases, according to the WHO, which has declared the outbreak a pandemic.