China's League of Legends Pro League and League of Legends Development League announced Saturday they have postponed their seasons amid the country's coronavirus outbreak.
The LPL and LDL were set to resume Feb. 3 after a break for the Lunar New Year, which took place Saturday. Fifty-six people have died because of the coronavirus, and more than 1,975 people in the country have been infected, according to a report from Reuters on Saturday that cited state broadcaster CCTV.
The leagues did not set a date for resuming play.
"Due to the scale of the coronavirus, we have decided to delay the start of week 2 of the LPL indefinitely," Riot Games said in a statement on Twitter. "This decision is not one we take lightly, having weighed up all options and taking the welfare of our players and fans as our No.1 priority we are sadly left with little option but to postpone week 2 of the LPL until the situation poses less of a threat to everyone here in China.
"To our fans, we sincerely apologise that it's come to this and we will share any and all info once we have an update.
"Stay safe and we'll see you all soon."
The World Health Organization announced Thursday it would not yet declare the rapid spread of the coronavirus a global health emergency but acknowledged it might take time to determine how to cull the outbreaks.
"As this is a new coronavirus, and it has been previously shown that similar coronaviruses required substantial efforts for regular information sharing and research," the WHO said in a statement Thursday, "the global community should continue to demonstrate solidarity and cooperation."