MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) announced on Friday that two European championships this summer have been cancelled as a preventive measure against the ongoing global spread of the novel coronavirus, according to the ISSF press service.
"Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the European Shotgun Championship, which should have taken place in Chateauroux, France from 6th till 20th of May, and the European Rifle/Pistol Qualification Championship for the 2020 Olympic Games, which should have been held in Plzen, Czech Republic from 18th till 25th of May, have now been cancelled by the respective Organizing Committees," the statement from the press service reads.
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, 199 countries and territories reported confirmed coronavirus cases. According to the latest reports, over 552,940 cases have been confirmed worldwide. The virus’ death toll has reached 25,045, yet more than 128,700 patients have recovered from the disease.