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Coronavirus pandemic

AIBA cancels its European Boxing Forum in Italy due to novel coronavirus spread

According to the most recent data, over 300 novel coronavirus cases have been registered in Italy, while 11 people have died of the disease

A man wearing a sanitary mask in Codogno, Italy AP Photo/Luca Bruno

A man wearing a sanitary mask in Codogno, Italy

© AP Photo/Luca Bruno

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. The AIBA (Amateur International Boxing Association) European Continental Boxing Forum, which was scheduled to be hosted by Italy’s Assisi on February 29, has been cancelled due to the threat of the novel coronavirus, Umar Kremlev, a member of the AIBA Executive Committee, told TASS on Wednesday.

"The forum in Italy has been cancelled in view of the coronavirus threat," Kremlev, who is also the president of the Russian Boxing Federation (RBF), said. "Security must be above everything."

"We will be now monitoring the developments and will select another country," he went on. "Perhaps, it [the forum] will be held in Russia."

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According to the most recent data, over 300 novel coronavirus cases have been registered in Italy, while 11 people have died of the disease. Quarantine was enforced in a number of regions in the north of Italy.

On December 31, 2019, the Chinese authorities reported to the World Health Organization about an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, an economic and industrial megalopolis with a population of 11 million.

The virus was identified on January 7 as 2019-nCoV. As of today, 42 countries and territories, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases.

The World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple locations. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on February 11 that the organization gave the novel coronavirus an official name of COVID-19.

According to the latest reports, over 81,230 cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in China and other countries. The virus’ death toll has hit the number of 2,769, yet more than 30,310 patients have recovered from the disease.

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