The possibility of the event being halted was announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock. The Conservative MP suggested officials could look into restricting participation in the London Marathon or potentially putting a stop to the event because of the outbreak. However, he added it was “far too early” to make a decision on the issue.

The announcement came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the coronavirus was “likely to become more significant” after he convened an emergency COBRA meeting to discuss the deadly disease.

Hugh Brasher, London Marathon events director, said: “We are monitoring closely the developments relating to the spread of coronavirus and noting the updates and advice given by the UK Government, the World Health Organisation and other UK public bodies.

“With just under eight weeks to go before the event on Sunday April 26, we will continue to monitor the situation.”

The London Marathon has been held annually for 38 years.

It is attended by 750,000 spectators and more than 40,000 people, both professional and amateurs, take to the streets to participate.

The route snakes around the River Thames, from Greenwich to St James’s Palace.

Various marathons have been disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak.

This weekend, the Tokyo marathon took place on deserted streets as coronavirus gripped the city.

At the event, only elite runners and wheelchair athletes were permitted to participate.

In Europe, the Paris half-marathon was cancelled completely in the wake of the outbreak.

Mr Johnson has revealed the UK’s ‘battle plan’ against the virus, as the number of cases in the UK jumped to 51.

DON’T MISS

Coronavirus map LIVE: Outbreak spreads like fire [LIVE]
Coronavirus risks becoming PANDEMIC as virus continues to spread [SHOCK]
Coronavirus: Leaked letter on ‘infection’ IGNORED by Brighton hospital [REVEALED]

The Prime Minister revealed the Army could be deployed to guard vital sites to leave the police free to “maintain public order”.

And NHS staff could be called out of retirement to deal with the matter.

To prevent the virus from spreading, the Government have announced they could relax rules of sick days, with one in five people potentially being off work.

They advise members of the public to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds, or to use a strong hand gel if soap and water is not available.

The Government has also suggested other wide scale sports events could be scrapped to stop person to person spread.

The FA and Premier League are currently both in talks addressing what to do if large gatherings of people are banned.

With the Ireland-Italy Six Nations rugby match postponed, concerns have been raised about other international rugby matches.

However, the England-Wales and Scotland-France games this weekend are still set to go ahead.

It is also feared the 2020 Tokyo Olympics could be cancelled or postponed.

But medical experts have said cancelling large events may not have an impact on the virus.

This is because, they say, people are more likely to watch the virus in all groups rather than in large crowds.

Source: Read Full Article