Irish health officials recommended on Tuesday the cancellation of the rugby match between Ireland and Italy on March 7 in Dublin in the Six Nations Tournament, due to the epidemic of coronavirus.
The recommendation was issued "for public health reasons" following a meeting of the public health agency's emergency team as the epidemic escalates in Italy, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.
"The recommendation made today to cancel the Ireland-Italy rugby match is based on the rapidly evolving epidemic in northern Italy, and the consequent risk of importing cases to Ireland," said the head of the medical services, Tony Holohan. Health Minister Simon Harris welcomed the recommendation.
The match against England also threatened
According to a new report from the Italian Civil Protection on Tuesday evening, 322 cases of contamination with the new coronavirus have been identified in Italy, including eleven deaths. No positive case has been identified to date in Ireland. The England-Italy match, scheduled for March 14 on the last day of the Tournament, is also threatened.
In 2001, the schedule for the Six Nations Tournament was disrupted by the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in the United Kingdom, which resulted in the cancellation of several matches, which were played several months later.
The world of sport is mobilizing to face the epidemic. Two meetings of the Celtic League which were to take place next weekend in Italy, in Treviso and Parma, have been postponed, like the Italy-Scotland match of the Women's Six Nations Tournament, which was to be played last Sunday.