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With less than 48 hours to go until the Cheltenham Festival 2020 a case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Cheltenham.

Preparations are already well underway for the four days of racing at Cheltenham Racecourse and horses have even started arriving at the course.

Cheltenham Racecourse says it is 'business as usual' at the Festival but that it is following Government and public health advice.

For the latest coronavirus news on Monday, visit our blog here

This week hundreds of thousands of people from across the globe will arrive in town bringing a £100million boost to the local economy.

There are now 273 cases of COVID-19 in the UK as of Sunday, March 8, with three in Gloucestershire and one of these is in Cheltenham.

A Cheltenham Racecourse spokesman said: “British Racing has been in close communication with the Government.

"We welcome the guidance that the business of the country should continue as usual at this time, while ensuring we adhere to the latest public health advice in full.”

It has published maps showing where hand sanitiser can be found around the racecourse - in 24 different locations.

(Image: Cheltenham Racecourse)

It has issued the following advice to racegoers ahead of the start of the Festival on Tuesday:

"At Cheltenham Racecourse the safety and welfare of racegoers and participants is paramount.

As part of our responsibilities towards racegoers and participants, we have put the following in place:

Pre-event communication advising all customers to follow official government public health advice, which can be found here

Additional toilets and handwashing facilities

Additional staff will operate in all toilet areas to ensure that soap and drying facilities are constantly available

Antibacterial hand gel will be made available and additional dedicated hand sanitizer locations can be found here.

Posters around the racecourse as a reminder of public health advice, which includes washing your hands regularly with soap and hot water, or using antibacterial gel

"Cheltenham Racecourse will continue to follow advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Public Health England, as well as that of local government."

Pre-match handshakes banned

Tomorrow will see a crunch meeting between broadcasters and health officials over future sports events in the UK.

Sporting authorities and broadcasters are due to meet the Government to talk through contingency plans if the outbreak worsens.

It comes as:

- Italy, which has the largest outbreak of the virus in Europe, has ordered all major sporting events to be played without fans for one month

- The International Olympic Committee (IOC) insisted it is committed to ensuring the Olympics goes ahead in Tokyo this summer

- The Premiere League and the EFL banned pre-match handshakes between teams, and advised players not to take selfies with fans

- UEFA said today that players would not be shaking hands with their opponents and referees as part of the pre-match protocol at UEFA matches until further notice.