Coronavirus fears put paid to swimming event

Coronavirus fears have made their first impact on Orkney’s sports scene.

As reported in today’s The Orcadian, Orkney Amateur Swimming Club (OASC) had been planning to run two competitions side by side this weekend — the club’s internal age-group championships and an open competition involving clubs from Shetland and Wick.

The club now say that due to coronavirus developments outside the county, no visiting teams will be in attendance.

It is understood the club still hope to run a reduced age-group competition instead.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK has now reached 460.

It comes as two more people with the virus died in the UK, bringing the total to eight.

There have been no confirmed cases of the virus in Orkney.