Emergency meeting to be held with sports bodies and broadcasters to kick off coronavirus contingency planning
Sports bodies and British broadcasters have been called to a meeting by the government to discuss the ongoing threat posed by the sporting calendar by coronavirus, it is understood.
The summit, scheduled for Monday, will discuss how the major sporting events could be disrupted by the outbreak.
The briefing, chaired by the Department of Media, Culture and Sport, will cover various possibilities, including holding events behind closed doors.
On Friday, the government said 164 people had tested positive for Covid-19 up from 115 cases reported the previous day.
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Two people have died from the virus in the UK, both of them elderly patients, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Friday.
Italian authorities have ordered all sporting matches to be played behind closed doors for one month in a bid to curb the outbreak. The nation is at the centre of the continent's worst epidemic.
The upcoming Italy v England Six Nations match, due to be held in Rome, had been postponed.
Both the Premier League and EFL have announced handshakes between teams and officials have been barred until further notice, over fears of spreading the virus further.