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The FIA has announced that the Sanya ePrix, which was scheduled to take place next month, has been postponed.
The announcement comes following the outbreak of the coronavirus in China that has resulted in the deaths of over 300 people.
Cases have been confirmed in Europe, however in an attempt to halt the spread and protect the individuals associated with the Formula E championship, the decision to suspend the event has been made.
No alternative date has been set out by the series' governing body.
A full statement from the FIA reads: "In view of the continued spread of coronavirus and after close consultation with the relevant departments of Hainan Province and Sanya Municipal Government, Formula E - together with the FIA, the Federation of Automobile and Motorcycle Sports of People’s Republic of China (CAMF), and regional partner Enova Holdings - have jointly decided not to race in Sanya on the scheduled date of March 21, 2020.
"Given the current growing health concerns and with the World Health Organisation declaring the coronavirus an international emergency, Formula E has taken the necessary measures to ensure the health and safety of its travelling staff, championship participants and spectators, which remains of paramount importance.
"We are working closely with our regional partner and the local authorities in Hainan Province and Sanya Municipal Government, to continue monitoring the situation as it develops.
"All parties will take the appropriate amount of time to study the viability of potential alternative dates should the situation improve."
Formula 1 is also set to race in China in April, however no decision has been taken on that event as of yet.
MORE: Disease control expert 'not optimistic' over 2020 China GP
I'm not being critical of this decision, it makes sense because of the crowds. However. I gotta say that there is a seriously shameless campaign to hype this pandemic. Not to minimize the casualties, but the mortality rate is under 2%. Of course that's bad, but it's not SARS either. There is a fine line between informing and hyping. I think most media outlets crossed that line
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ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I'm not being critical of this decision, it makes sense because of the crowds. However. I gotta say that there is a seriously shameless campaign to hype this pandemic. Not to minimize the casualties, but the mortality rate is under 2%. Of course that's bad, but it's not SARS either. There is a fi... [Read more]