Paris, Mar 6 (IANS): The Paris Marathon, which was scheduled for April 5, has been postponed to October 18 due to the growing coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The decision followed the cancellation of Sunday's Paris Half Marathon for the same reason, reports Xinhua news agency.

"In order to avoid a late cancellation that would penalise the participants, we have, in agreement with the Paris mayor's office, decided to postpone the Paris marathon to October 18," the Amaury Sports Organisation said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement also announced that the half marathon will take place on September 6.

About 138 new cases have been reported in France since Wednesday, the biggest one-day jump in the country since the outbreak began, which brought the total to 423. And seven people have been killed by the deadly virus in the region.

Last week, the French government had ordered to cancel all the "gatherings of more than 5,000 people in enclosed areas" as well as some external events.