Organisers of the Formula E championship are monitoring the situation in China, amid the outbreak of a deadly virus in the country, with the Sanya E-Prix scheduled for March.
There was confusion on Thursday when a directive was issued by the General Administration of Sport of China which declared that all sporting activities would be cancelled between now and April.
The coronavirus, which was first detected last month, has claimed the lives of 17 people, with 600 cases confirmed. All of the deaths recorded have been in mainland China.
Wuhan, a city of 11 million people where the virus is thought to have originated, went into lockdown on Thursday.
Authorities in Huanggang, located to the east of Wuhan, will suspend the bulk of transport links overnight, while another city, Ezhou, will shut its train stations.
The World Health Organisation convened on Wednesday but has not declared a global emergency.
Travellers arriving to other parts of the world from affected areas are being screened at airports, while equipment and goods are also being checked.
Formula E’s Chinese round, which is held on the island of Hainan in Sanya, is scheduled for March 21 and would have been impacted by the directive.
However the published information was worded incorrectly and only referred to a local rally which had been due to take place in February, but has now been cancelled in an effort to avoid further spreading the virus.
A Formula E spokesperson confirmed the race will therefore go ahead as planned, though they will continue to monitor the situation in China.
“As it stands, the race in Sanya on March 21 is still scheduled to go ahead as planned. The uncertainty stemmed from an incorrect statement issued locally in China, which published wrong and misleading information and has since been removed,” confirmed the spokesperson to Motorsport Week.
“Given the current health concerns, we are continuing to closely monitor the situation as it develops on a daily basis.
“We have requested that our regional partner works together with the local motorsport federation, to liaise with the relevant authorities in Hainan province to further analyse and assess the situation and provide recommendations on preparations for the race.”
Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix is scheduled to take place in April. Motorsport Week has contacted Formula 1 for a comment.
Chinese citizens are poised to begin a short period of holiday, with New Year celebrations set for the coming days, though these have been scaled back due to the virus.
China’s football season does not get underway until late February while most other sporting categories do not begin until April or May.
