This month's World Half Marathon Championships has been postponed until October because of the coronavirus crisis ©Getty Images

The current coronavirus crisis has prompted the postponement of this month’s World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland.

The Championships were due to take place on March 29 but have now been rearranged for October.

In a release, World Athletics said: “It is with regret that we have agreed with the Mayor of Gdynia and the organisers of the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships to postpone this event until October this year, due to the ongoing uncertainty created by the spread of the coronavirus internationally.

“The current international situation would have seriously compromised the event at this time as many countries are now restricting international travel, invoking quarantines and advising citizens and event organisers to avoid mass gatherings.

“First and foremost we had to consider the health and well-being of our athletes, officials and spectators in making this decision.

“The advice from our medical team, who are in contact with the World Health Organization, is that the spread of the coronavirus is at a concerning level in many countries and all major gatherings should be reviewed.

“This week we have worked with the Local Organising Committee to identify an appropriate alternative date for both the host city and for the elite competitors and we have agreed on October 17 this year.

“Due to the exceptional efforts of our Polish organising committee, and the enthusiasm of the local community, this event was to include a mass race of more than 25,000 participants on March 29, and we hope that the great majority of these recreational runners will still be able to participate alongside our elite competitors on the new date.”

Earlier this year World Athletics postponed its World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, set for March 13 to 15, until next year because of the coronavirus threat.

Meanwhile European Athletics has established a taskforce to assess the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on its major events.

Among the European Athletics events which could be impacted by the virus, which has killed over 3,400 people and infected more than 100,000 worldwide, are next week's Indoor Masters Championships in Braga in Portugal.

Italy - the worst affected country outside of China, South Korea and Iran - is due to stage the European Athletics Under-18 Championships in July.