World Rugby and local organizers have rescheduled the Hong Kong and Singapore rounds of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

The HSBC Singapore Sevens will now take place Oct. 10-11 and the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens Oct. 16-18, closing out the men's season series.

Hong Kong, which also features a women's competition, was originally scheduled for April 3-5 and Singapore April 11-12.

"The health and safety of our players, fans and everyone working on the event is always our highest priority," World Rugby said in a statement. "This prudent decision has been taken in order to help protect the global rugby community and the wider public and was taken based on the World Health Organization and relevant public authority travel and health guidelines.

"The decision is fully supported by stakeholders, including unions and commercial partners.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2020.