By Muhammed Nafie

DUBAI — The UAE has canceled or postponed upcoming entertainment and sports events as coronavirus continues spread across the Middle East and North Africa with over 1,600 people infected across the region.

The organizers of Ultra Abu Dhabi 2020, which was set to take place on March 5-6 at Abu Dhabi's 25,000-capacity Du arena, said the event had been postponed to a later date, due to the travel restrictions imposed by some countries and airlines.

Make Bank K-Pop extravaganza, which was scheduled to be held on the weekend of March 20-21 at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena, has also been indefinitely postponed.

The Dubai International Boat Show, which was due to take place on March 10, and set to last five days, has been postponed until November.

A women's forum and yoga festival in Abu Dhabi have also been rescheduled. Women's Forum Middle East, scheduled for March 7-8 in Abu Dhabi, has been postponed until further notice.

The annual Aks Color Carnival holi, which celebrates the Hindu festival of colors and was set to take place in Dubai Sports City on March 6, has been called off in the interest of public health safety, organizers have stated.

In addition, the International Triathlon Union has postponed the 2020 ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Paratriathlon World Cup and Abu Dhabi Mixed Relay event as a precautionary measure to reduce the spread of coronavirus. — Al Arabiya English