A number of media outlets are reporting that Formula One's Australian Grand Prix will be cancelled after a high-profile driver questioned the organiser's decision to go ahead.
Plans for the season opener were thrown into chaos after a Formula One team member tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, days before more than 100,000 spectators were expected to gather at Melbourne's Albert Park for the much-anticipated race.
Britain's McLaren Racing confirmed the positive test of one of their team members and its withdrawal from the event on Thursday.
In a statement on Twitter, the team said the infected person was self-isolated as soon as they began to show symptoms and is now being treated by local health authorities.
The Formula One Group and governing body Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) are yet to make an official announcement after a crisis meeting took place early on Friday morning.
Grand Prix practice sessions were due to start on Friday ahead of the main race event on Sunday.
Six-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton said on Thursday that money was being put ahead of health by failing to cancel the event, adding that it was "shocking" that it was going ahead.
"It seems like the rest of the world is reacting ... you see the NBA has been suspended yet Formula One continues to go on - it's definitely concerning for me," he said during a press conference.
Calls to cancel the race had garnered widespread public support with the hashtag #CancelTheGrandPrix trending on Twitter.
The decision comes amid a wider discussion over whether all mass-gatherings should be banned as a measure to slow the spread of the deadly virus within the Australian community.
In the United States, Broadway has been closed, the NBA season cancelled and the huge Coachella music festival postponed.
Meanwhile, in Australia, organisers announced the cancellation of Tasmania's Dark Mofo festival while debate continues over whether the Sydney Easter Show, NRL and AFL games and Anzac Day events should go ahead.
Kirby Institute health policy professor Bill Bowtell told ABC News that the NRL season and the Grand Prix should be cancelled immediately.
"We must bring down the rate of new infections of coronavirus in this country and we must do so in the next hours and days," he said. "It is very irresponsible for the NRL to allow this season to go ahead."
As of Thursday afternoon, at least 139 people had tested positive to the virus in Australia, including three people who had died.
Earlier that day the World Health Organization (WHO) formally declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic after it reached more than 100 countries.
It is the first time a coronavirus has been classified as such.
More than 127,000 cases have been confirmed globally as of Friday morning.
Of these, approximately 68,000 have recovered and at least 4,628 have died.
Coronavirus symptoms can range from mild illness to pneumonia, according to the federal government's website, and can include a fever, coughing, sore throat, fatigue and shortness of breath.
People who believe they may have contracted the virus are advised to call their doctor before visiting or contact the national Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
