After five days of competition in Narvik, the Championships, which had three days left, ended early due to the advice of chief municipal doctor in Narvik, Sverre Håkon Evju.

"We have come to a situation where the number of corona cases has nearly doubled in the space of 24 hours and the virus has attained status as an international pandemic," said Håkon Evju.

"Even though we have kept to all guidelines, and we are in an area where there is not a single confirmed case of a person infected by the virus, we have chosen to cancel."

Over 300 athletes from 40 countries were at the Championships with five events now set to be left unfinished.

"We wish to point out that we are not doing this because we have cases of corona infection, we are doing this precisely because we have no cases of corona infection, Håkon Evju added.

Erik Plener, leader of the Local Organising Committee, also said, “It is a wise decision and it is better to be safer than sorry. 

"It is better to cancel while the athletes still have the possibility of travelling home - rather than having 500 people in quarantine for 14 days.

Norway are one of the most affected countries in the world by coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19, with 703 infections with more than 129,000 people infected globally.