After the cancellation of China’s League of Legends Pro League’s upcoming matches earlier this week, the Overwatch League is the next match to be cancelled due to the coronavirus epidemic.

The official post reveals that “We have decided to cancel our February and March matches in China to protect the health and safety of our players, fans, and staff. We hope fans have a safe and happy Lunar New Year, and we remain incredibly excited to play Overwatch league matches in China later this season. We’ll share more information about when and where the matches will take place at a later date. Thank you for your support and understanding!”

The cancellation affects the East Division, Pacific Conference teams Chengdu Hunters, Guangzhou Charge, Seoul Dynasty, and Shanghai Dragons. Events outside of China scheduled for February and March will go ahead as planned.

Between February and March, there were OWL matches scheduled in Shanghai, Foshan and Hangzhou. Several Chinese OWL teams have already moved their players to South Korea as a precautionary measure.

The cancellations have been made as the death toll for the viral outbreak approaches 200, with almost 8000 people now estimated to be infected (95 per cent of them from the province of Hubei) and scores of foreign nationals hurriedly being evacuated from China.