https://www.racingpost.com/news/latest/industry-group-set-up-to-ensure-racing-is-prepared-for-coronavirus/424876

Industry group set up to ensure racing is prepared for coronavirus

The potential of a threat to racing from coronavirus has sparked the creation of a special group to ensure the sport is at the maximum state of readiness with the Cheltenham Festival 13 days away.
While specific contingency plans for racing’s biggest and most lucrative event are yet to be made, a racing industry steering group comprised of representatives from the BHA, Racecourse Association and horsemen is considering the implications on the sport of the coronavirus outbreak.
The virus has spread from China with significant outbreaks in South Korea, Iran and Italy, where 11 have died and several towns are on lockdown. Scotland women's Six Nations match in Italy last Sunday was cancelled and four Serie A games are set to be played behind closed doors this weekend.
Whether a similar outbreak in Britain could lead to the postponement or cancellation of sporting events has yet to be determined, but Scotland's chief medical officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, on Tuesday said the NHS would implement similar tactics to those used in Italy if necessary.
She said: "If we do have a cluster, as has happened in Italy, then we move into delaying the spread.
"Delaying the spread would mean some of the measures that have happened already in Italy – stopping people coming together in large groups so that one or a few individuals do not spread to many, many more around them."
The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday it was too early to call the outbreak a pandemic but countries should be "in a phase of preparedness".
The virus originated in China and causes respiratory disease covid-19 which has led to more than 2,000 deaths in that country. Cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in around 30 other countries with more than 20 deaths.
The threat of coronavirus was discussed at Monday’s annual meeting between the BHA and Cheltenham ahead of next month's festival, which more than a quarter of a million people from around the world are set to attend.
Racing's tripartite group has already met and has agreed to follow government guidance around preventing the spread of the virus. As a first measure that guidance has been shared around the racing industry.
The steering group will work with the government but does not see a need to develop a policy regarding abandonment of fixtures at this time.
In theory if fixtures are cancelled or abandoned then there is the possibility to restage them at a later date, but there are no specific contingency plans in place for any fixtures at this time, including Cheltenham.
RCA racecourse services director Caroline Davies said: "A tripartite group has been set up and we're taking our lead from the government, being responsible business and employers."
For the second day running share prices in some betting companies reflected a slump in global stock markets due to fears the virus may cause economic damage.
The FTSE 100 Index hit a one-year closing low and William Hill shares ended down 5.1 per cent. Shares in GVC holdings, owners of Ladbrokes and Coral, fell by 1.6 per cent.
Shares in Flutter Entertainment, which has Paddy Power and Betfair under its umbrella, dipped by 0.97 percent. The Stars Group, which owns Sky Bet, fell 2.78 per cent.
There has been no direct impact on racing in Britain or Ireland but the outbreak has affected meetings in south-east Asia.
Hong Kong has taken extreme measures to prevent the potential for spreading the virus at Happy Valley and Sha Tin race meetings, while betting shops in the territory were closed this month with immediate effect in a move to help combat the spread of the illness, and racing has now been halted in South Korea.
Last week's Asian Racing Conference in South Africa also had a depleted presence from the organisers' most heavily populated jurisdictions.
All delegates from mainland China who had registered for the event agreed to stay away and the HKJC severely restricted its delegation at the conference.

2/5 on 2/1 off
ronnie

Hello
when I looked at the market last night on was 1/4

hope you are well
regards a hopeful Ronnie.

Foyleswar
the year the gold cup was off for snow re midnight court
I remember watching the arranged day at ripon races

regards
Ronnie.

yes  thanks Ronnie , and like you i prey for the best its the last think we and the sport needs right now

if it gets to the stage where everyone is self isolated (for a flu virus!) we'll have no shops, no work, no transport network, no anything, so the least of your worries would be whether chelt goes ahead

put it under "no anything"

just imagine what all this scaremongering is going to do to the nhs waiting times, admissions, etc,

unless every government & the WHO are hiding the truth and this is going to kill millions, then frankly it's a pile of cack

Yes but they have a vaccine which enables bigger numbers to survive so you could argue that people that didn't get a jab it's their own risk or fault. This virus could kill a very large number of old/already ill people. The best idea for them is live alone.

The flu vaccine does work to some extent (reduces severity of illness) and they will develop a vaccine for this which will do the same.  The COVID virus does appear to be far more dangerous than flu and the key aspect is not simple mortality but the likelihood of illness requiring hospitalization and that occurring in numbers would overwhelm health services.

yes dave agree, they'll develop a drug that helps reduce effects but they can't possibly have it right now in the quantity needed to dose up billions of people

boris has just released a list of the most vulnerables and priority cases for when they get a vaccine;

1. the elderly
2. those at risk from other complications / illnesses
3. under 5s
4. tory voters at the last election

Ireland vs Italy rugby
POSTPONED

when they cordoned off northern Italy y'day that was always likely

people were being told to self isolate if returning on arrival also, but everyone that came in the day before and even an hour before wasn't so thousands went skiing over half term and came back

if they think they can contain this they're living in dream world, it'll happen no matter what precautions they take

i'd say its odds on cancelled. perhaps you experts should've told China 'its just flu' before they wiped off billions from their economy and quarantined entire districts

they also do suffer from seasonal flu deaths , they know the difference

Lol jjmbe.

We could see a flip flop in the next 72 hrs, way things are going mind

no one is saying they don't know the difference, the point was that if chelt is cancelled it's the least of your worries because everything else will be affected, first sign will be panic buying in the supermarkets, the experts compared it to flu and they are the ones briefing the public, so are they telling the truth?