Burak Bir
23 February 2020•Update: 24 February 2020
ISTANBUL
Three football matches in Italy’s Serie A were postponed on Sunday as the European country introduced "extraordinary measures" to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
The three matches, which were scheduled between Inter Milan and Sampdoria, Atalanta and Sassuolo, and Hellas Verona and Cagliari, were cancelled as all sports events in the northern Italian regions of Lombardy and Veneto were postponed.
Italian premier Giuseppe Conte announced the emergency plan late Saturday as the number of cases rose to 79.
The measures were imposed after two Italian citizens were confirmed to have died from the virus, officially known as COVID-19.
Some 10 towns were effectively quarantined under the plan.
Serie A is a professional league competition among top football clubs of the Italian football league system.
Meanwhile, death toll from the virus in China has crossed 2,400 with over 76,000 confirmed cases.
The virus that emerged in Wuhan city of China's Hubei province last December has spread to spread to 26 countries, where more than 1,400 cases and 11 deaths have been reported so far.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak an international health emergency.
