St John's:The Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Sunday announced a list of domestic matches and tournaments that have been put on hold due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The decision comes after the recommendation of CWI's Medical Advisory Committee (MAC).
"The health and safety of our players, officials and staff, are of paramount importance to CWI and we have advised the Board of Directors to take proactive policy steps to decrease the growing risk of contamination and spread of the virus," said Israel Dowlat CWI Chief Medical Officer in a statement.
Cricket West Indies suspends all events. The tournaments affected after CWI's decision are the Regional Under 15s Boys CHampionship, Regional Under 19s Girls Championship and Final two rounds of the West Indies Championship that was slated to begin from March 26.
"We are acting based on medical best practice as well as in an abundance of caution. The ongoing gathering of even small groups of spectators, cricketers and match officials could pose a risk to some persons of contracting the virus and being stranded in quarantine in a non-resident country for a prolonged period," said Donovan Bennett, Chairman of the MAC.
"Clearly this pandemic is still evolving, and we will continue to monitor the situation throughout the Caribbean," he added.
The CWI has also advised all Local Cricket Associations and Territorial Boards to follow the advice of their respective Ministries of Health.
