MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. The 2020 FIA Formula 1 World Championship Grands Prix in Bahrain and Vietnam, which were scheduled for March 20-22 and April 3-5 respectively, have been postponed indefinitely over the novel coronavirus pandemic, the F1 press service announced in a statement on Friday.

"In view of the continued global spread of COVID-19 and after ongoing discussions with the FIA, the Bahrain International Circuit, the Bahrain Motor Federation, the Hanoi People’s Committee the Vietnamese Motorsports Association, and the Vietnam Grand Prix Corporation, a decision has been taken by all parties to postpone both races due to take place on the 20th - 22nd March in Bahrain and April 3rd - 5th April in Vietnam," the statement reads.

FIA Formula One Team McLaren announced a decision on March 12 to withdraw from the 2020 World Championship’s opening Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia, this weekend after one of the team’s members was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. Later in the day, the management of Formula One announced a decision to suspend the organization of the 2020 F1 Australian GP.

"Following the announcement of the Australian Grand Prix’s cancellation this week and the ongoing and fluid nature of the COVID-19 situation globally, Formula 1, the FIA and the promoters have taken these decisions in order to ensure the health and safety of the travelling staff, championship participants and fans, which remains our primary concern," the F1 press service announced.

This year’s FIA F1 World Championship was intended to be the first in the history of Formula One to run in 22 Grands Prix around the globe, opening with the race in Australia on March 15 and closing with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The 2020 F1 World Championship was set to see a debut of the Grand Prix in Vietnam’s Hanoi and the return of the Dutch Grand Prix, which had been absent from the race calendar since 1985.

Last month, the Formula-1 management announced its decision to suspend indefinitely the 2020 Grand Prix in China’s Beijing, initially scheduled for April 17-19, over the novel coronavirus spread.

The F1 authorities later stated that the racing track hosting the Grand Prix in Bahrain on March 20-22 would be closed to spectators as part of preventive measures against the novel coronavirus.

COVID-19 Global Spread

On December 31, 2019, the Chinese authorities reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) 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. The World Health Organization declared in January that the new coronavirus outbreak was a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple locations.

On February 11, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the organization gave the novel coronavirus an official name of COVID-19. On March 11, the World Health Organization officially stated that the continuously spreading novel coronavirus was a global pandemic.

As of today, 133 countries and territories reported confirmed coronavirus cases. According to the latest reports, over 139,000 cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide. The virus’ death toll has reached 5,116, yet more than 70,720 patients have recovered from the disease.