Positivity increases over Cheltenham Festival despite rising coronavirus tally

With three days to go on Saturday to the start of the Cheltenham Festival, positivity continues to increase that this year’s event will be staged as normal.

While course officials have been optimistic throughout that racing would go ahead despite the global outbreak of the potentially fatal coronavirus, concerns about what reaction the government might take, and its potential impact on the festival, has resulted in a volatile betting market on whether the fixture would take place.

Positive cases in Britain for the Covid-19 virus jumped on Friday to 163 from 115, out of 20,338 people tested. On Thursday, the first person in Britain, a woman in her 70s who had underlying health issues, died as a result of the illness, which is reported to have infected around 100,000 people across the globe, mostly in China.

However, the government remains in the containment stage for the virus and weekend sporting fixtures, including seven Premier League football matches on Saturday and the Guinness Six Nations clash between England and Wales at Twickenham, are all set to take place without any restrictions.

The BHA remains in contact with the government over coronavirus and continues to operate on the basis of ‘business as usual’, as outlined by prime minister Boris Johnson.

On Monday, BHA head of public affairs Ross Hamilton will be part of racing's representation at a meeting in London between sports authorities, broadcasters and ministers about contingency plans in the event of a further spread of the virus.

Punters have thrown their support behind the Cheltenham Festival taking place on the Betfair ‘will racing be on’ market, with ‘yes’ trading at 1.12 and ‘no’ at 8.4 at 10am on Saturday with more than £3.2 million matched. Last week, the market briefly touched evens on both outcomes.

The first positive case of coronavirus in Bristol was confirmed on Friday in an individual who had returned from northern Italy, an area where there has been a significant outbreak.

England takes on Wales at Twickenham in the Six Nations rugbyCredit: Getty Images

Debra Lapthorne, centre director for Public Health England South West, said: "Public Health England is contacting people who had close contact with one of the latest confirmed cases of Covid-19.

"Close contacts will be given health advice about symptoms and emergency contact details to use if they become unwell in the 14 days after contact with the confirmed case."

A public health notice was issued this week by Cheltenham in relation to those planning to attend next week’s fixture, which said: "Do not travel to the Cheltenham Festival if you have any of the following symptoms: a cough, a high temperature or shortness of breath AND you have been to or transitted through the high-risk countries, or been in contact with anyone that has, in the last 14 days.

"To protect yourself and others please do not travel and call NHS 111 (GB) or HSE 112 (Republic of Ireland) for expert advice. These measures are being taken in order for us to safeguard everyone’s health and wellbeing during the current public health situation. Thank you for your understanding. For more details, please visit gov.uk/coronavirus."

Beyond the Cheltenham Festival, attention is starting to turn to the potential effect of coronavirus on the Randox Health Grand National meeting at Aintree in April.

The Grand National takes place on April 4, and Betfair's 'will racing go ahead' market for the start of the festival on April 2 favours 'no' at 1.84 (5-6) with 'yes' evens with just less than £8,000 traded.

On Friday, a spokesman for Aintree referenced the BHA's coronavirus plan in terms of the course's approach to the illness.

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