The tournament, set to take place from March 14 to 22, has been moved provisionally to the dates of May 8, 12 and 16. 

It is the second rugby event to be affected by the disease with the other event being the Hong Kong Sevens and Singapore Sevens which will be postponed until October due to the spread.

This year's edition will also act as the Rugby World Cup 2021 qualifier, which will see the winner progress directly to the tournament next year.

Japan have won the last three Championships, with four title wins overall, one behind Kazakhstan who were set to compete alongside the hosts in the three-team tournament. 

Both Hong Kong and Tokyo Marathons have been cancelled due to the virus, with the former cancelling all participation and the latter restricting it to the elite race.

The hosting territory has 67 cases to date with two people dying from the disease.

The reigning champions have problems of their own with the ongoing crisis on the Diamond Princess, currently docked in Yokohama with 621 people on board contracting the virus which two people have died from.

On land, 92 people have contracted the disease in the Olympic host nation with one person dying, while Kazakhstan had the Asian Water Polo Championships cancelled and the Asian Weightlifting Championships moved.