ICONIC Canadian acrobatic troupe Cirque du Soleil yesterday announced that its shows in Hangzhou, China, are cancelled due to concerns over a coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The call was made in response to Chinese officials’ requests to close all indoor activities with 100 or more people in attendance in order to contain the outbreak, said the company in a statement.

“Right now, we all have the responsibility to step up, and to do preventive activities. We are going to keep leading in this effort by putting people’s health and safety as our top priority,” said Cirque du Soleil head Daniel Lamarre in the statement.

The Land of Fantasy, which opened last year, is Cirque du Soleil’s first resident show in China.

Hangzhou, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, is about 700km from the city of Wuhan, where the SARS-like virus emerged at a seafood and animal market last month.

SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002 and 2003.

China has confirmed 830 cases of the coronavirus infection with 25 deaths, and implemented an effective quarantine of some 20 million people in multiple cities ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Several other countries, including Thailand and the US, have reported confirmed cases, though the World Health Organisation yesterday stopped short of declaring a public health emergency of international concern. – AFP, January 24, 2020.