Paris, March 13 (IANS): The Bahrain and Vietnam Grand Prix have been postponed due to the spread of coronavirus.

The races had been set for March 20-22 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, and April 3-5 at the recently completed Hanoi Circuit, as per the F1 official website.

"Formula 1 and the FIA continue to work closely with the race promoters in Bahrain and Vietnam and the local authorities to monitor the situation and take the appropriate amount of time to study the viability of potential alternative dates for each Grand Prix later in the year should the situation improve," F1 officials said in a statement.

Formula 1 Chairman and CEO, Chase Carey, said: "The global situation regarding COVID-19 is fluid and very difficult to predict and its right we take time to assess the situation and make the right decisions. We are taking this decision with the FIA and our promoters to ensure the safety of everyone involved in Formula 1 and our fans. The Bahrain Grand Prix is an exciting race in our schedule, and we look forward to being back there as soon as we can. We are also looking forward to Vietnam's inaugural race and bringing the spectacle of F1 to one of the most exciting cities in the world."

A total of four Grand Prix have been called off.

The total number of deaths due to coronavirus across the world crossed the 5,000 mark on Friday.

According to worldometers.info, the total number of deaths globally was recorded to be 5,082 out of 138,275 total cases.

Of the total, 3,177 deaths have been recorded in China and 1,016 in Italy.

India also reported the first death in the country due to coronavirus on March 12.

COVID-19 is affecting 132 countries and territories around the world.