Passengers at Shanghai airport had their temperatures checked on arrival yesterday as part of steps being taken to monitor the coronavirus outbreak ©Getty Images

The Shanghai Sports General Association has instructed sporting bodies to suspend all sports events in the city until further notice due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In a notice issued today, the Association said: "All sporting bodies should suspend sport events until the threat is over and formulate a plan for epidemic prevention to avoid internal infections.

"Organisations should also implement a daily hygiene management system and strengthen health education to urge employees to protect themselves."

Several sporting events due to be held in China have been postponed because of the coronavirus.

The coronavirus crisis has been declared as a public health emergency across China ©Getty Images
The coronavirus crisis has been declared as a public health emergency across China ©Getty Images

The first to be called off was the World Indoor Athletics Championships due to be held in Nanjing next month.

Badminton, baseball, biathlon, equestrian and golf events have been cancelled as has the Chinese leg of the FINA Diving World Series.

Various events have also been moved to other countries, including Olympic qualifying events in football, boxing and basketball.

Organisers of other events including the SportAccord World Sport and Business Summit, due to be held in Beijing in April, say they are closely monitoring the situation.