IRFU agree to postponement of Six Nations clashes with Italy amid fears of coronavirus spread
The IRFU have agreed to cancel all of Ireland's Six Nations clashes with Italy, following a meeting with Health Minister Simon Harris.
Today's meeting follows a statement yesterday, in which the Irish rugby body sought talks with Mr Harris to clarify his statement that the game at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday March 7 should not go ahead amid the ongoing fear of an outbreak of the Covid-19 virus in Ireland.
Chief executive Philip Browne said the IRFU are "perfectly happy" to cancel the men's, women's and Under-20s games as part of a wider strategy to contain the virus in Europe.
It is, as yet, unclear when the games will be rescheduled. The IRFU have asked ticket holders to retain their tickets while discussions continue about when the games might take place. Ticket holders can get a new ticket for a rescheduled game or receive a refund.
An IRFU statement read: "The IRFU had a positive meeting with Minister Harris and his advisors today, where we requested a formal instruction as to the staging of the Ireland v Italy international matches over the weekend of 6/8 March.
"At the outset we made it clear that the IRFU was supportive of the Governments' need to protect public health in relation to the Coronavirus.
"We were then advised, formally, that The National Public Health Emergency team has determined that the series of matches should not proceed, in the interests of Public Health.
"The IRFU is happy to comply with this instruction.
"We will immediately begin to work with our Six Nations partners to look at the possibility of rescheduling the matches and would hope to have an update on this in the coming days."
The Italian rugby federation were allocated up to 3,000 tickets for the Aviva Stadium game, however, with no travel restrictions currently in place between Italy and Ireland, it is still possible for Italian fans to travel to Dublin on the weekend of the postponed game.
Health Minister Simon Harris speaking to the media after the Ireland versus Italy Six Nations match was canceled. Pic:Mark Condren 26.2.2020
Speaking after the meeting, Irish Minister for Health Simon Harris said: "It gave me an opportunity to outline, along with the chief medical officer, the determination made by the National Public Emergency Team yesterday.
"A number of decisions were made by our health experts in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19 and ensure that Ireland plays its role in that regard.
"One of those decisions related to mass gatherings and obviously there was a particular issue in relation to a series of rugby games due to take place on the weekend of the 6th, 7th and 8th of March.
"It was good to have an opportunity to outline the rationale behind that to the IRFU and I very much appreciate the importance that they too attach to public health, and they were understanding in that regard."
On Tuesday the Department of Health's National Public Health Emergency Team recommended the match scheduled for March 7 should be postponed.
Ireland's chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said mass gatherings of people create a particular risk from coronavirus.
Speaking in a media briefing at the Department of Health, he added: "The risk assessment in relation to the specific mass gathering of the rugby match, we made a clear recommendation in relation to that, and that's been a matter of public discussion and we will be meeting the IRFU later.
"We also set up a process whereby criteria can be both developed and applied to help in the management of decisions around other mass gatherings that might arise over the coming weeks and months.
"What was of concern to us was the nature of the mass gathering, a large group of people coming together from an affected area where we don't believe we fully understand the community transmission pattern in that area.
"We think there may be many more cases there that have yet to be identified. We don't think any other responsible decision could have been made."
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Transport Minister Shane Ross said that while he could not stop rugby fans travelling from Italy to Ireland, he did not want to encourage mass gatherings.
"You certainly don't want to encourage them to gather in a big arena," he told RTE.
"But you can't stop them coming - that would be absolutely wrong.
"We are keeping the border open, we are not going that far. But we are certainly not going to encourage measures which are going to heighten the risk."
In 2001, a number of Six Nations games were postponed due to a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.
There are fears that travelling Italian fans could heighten the risk of coronavirus coming to these shores. Four regions in northern Italy were yesterday added to the list of at-risk countries following a surge in cases and deaths there from the virus.
People with symptoms will have to self-isolate and undergo testing for coronavirus, although for now, temperature checks won’t be carried out on travellers at airports and ports.
From today, more health staff will be deployed on the ground in airports to provide information and guidance to passengers.
It follows the decision to expand the number of at-risk countries beyond mainland China to Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Iran, and four regions in northern Italy - Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont.
There were growing fears last night the St Patrick's Day celebrations could also fall victim to public health measures.
The threat to mass gatherings such as the Cheltenham Festival, starting on March 10, now looms larger as the coronavirus continues to sweep through Europe, with cases detected in Switzerland, Austria, Croatia and mainland Spain yesterday, while it showed no sign of abating in Italy. Up to 20 Irish holidaymakers in quarantine at a hotel in Tenerife are being tested for the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the Irish boxing squad will return home from Italy this evening after cutting short a training camp held in Assisi.
As part of preparations for next month's Olympic qualifiers in London, the squad - which includes Kellie Harrington and Kurt Walker - were in a two-week camp alongside Russia, Romania, Finland, France, India, Moldova, Switzerland and New Zealand.
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