'Follow the instructions, stay safe': KL Rahul urges fans to be strong amid COVID-19 fears

Indian batsman & wicketkeeper KL Rahul urged his fans to follow the instructions provided by the health experts & stay safe as the novel coronavirus gripped the world. The BCCI has suspended the Indian Premier League until April 15 and has also postponed the remainder of the ODI series between India and South Africa. Major sporting events across the world are being cancelled or postponed amid growing concerns of the COVID-19, including the PL, IPL, LaLiga, NBA, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Australia-New Zealand T20 & ODI tour, England's tour of Sri Lanka, the PSL and more. 

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K L Rahul urges fans to stay strong

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IPL postponed

A statement was released on Friday afternoon which quoted BCCI Secretary Jay Shah and stated, "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to suspend IPL 2020 till 15th April 2020, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing novel Coronavirus situation."

The BCCI is concerned and sensitive about all its stakeholders, and public health in general, and it is taking all necessary steps to ensure that, all people related to IPL including fans have a safe cricketing experience. The cricket body will work closely with the Government of India along with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and all other relevant Central and State Government departments in this regard.

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Coronavirus Outbreak

As of today, the total number of positive cases in India has risen up to 82 - Haryana-15, Telangana-1, Rajasthan-3, Andhra Pradesh - 1, Karnataka-5, Jammu-1, Ladakh-3, Maharashtra- 16, Tamil Nadu-1, Uttar Pradesh-10, Delhi-6, Punjab-1, Kerala-19 (out of which 3 recovered). Along with it, two deaths have been reported in Kalaburagi and West Delhi respectively. 

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, COVID-19- the novel coronavirus has affected nearly 118 countries in the world. Presently, there are over 1,24,518 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of 4,607 people. As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to treat COVID-19, countries have been grappling with all possible mechanisms to contain its spread. So far, China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran have witnessed the most number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

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