Italy’s top football league has postponed three matches scheduled for Sunday in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto after the deaths of two people infected with the coronavirus.

On orders from the Italian government, the Serie A games between Inter Milan and Sampdoria, Atalanta and Sassuolo as well as Hellas Verona and Cagliari were called off.

Three other matches in Genoa, Turin and Rome on Sunday were due to go ahead as scheduled.

A dozen towns in northern Italy effectively went into lockdown on Saturday after the deaths of two people infected with the coronavirus and a growing cluster of cases with no direct links to the origin of the outbreak abroad.

“The government is working on urgent measures to decisively confront and contain the cases of coronavirus contagion,” read a letter from sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora to Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malago shortly before midnight local time on Saturday.

“Following measures taken by the cabinet for protective reasons and maximum precaution, on orders of the government, I am asking you to suspend all sports events of every level and discipline planned for the Lombardy and Veneto regions on Sunday,” the letter said.

Already on Saturday, the Ascoli-Cremonese game in Serie B was postponed, as well as Piacenza-Sambenedettese in Serie C. Four Serie C games scheduled for Sunday have also been postponed.

On Thursday, Inter is also slated to host Ludogrets in the second leg of the Europa League Round of 32.

“It’s obvious that gatherings at sports events are among the events where the most difficulties could occur,” Spadafora said earlier on Saturday in Rome at the Six Nations rugby game between Italy and Scotland, which was attended by 55,000 fans.

Meanwhile, The Sun on Sunday has reported that the English Premier League is on red alert over the coronavirus crisis amid fears that football fans could catch the disease while going to matches.

According to the report, Crystal Palace are so concerned they have given the club’s Selhurst Park stadium a deep clean, while officials at Brighton have urgently stepped up measures to protect players, staff and fans after five cases were linked to the city.

“We have installed hand sanitisers in every toilet at the ground, and signs around the stadium will remind supporters to wash their hands,” a Crystal Palace spokesman was quoted by saying.

Brighton and Leicester City are also stepping up hygiene safety, while fans arriving at Liverpool on Monday are likely to find extra measures in place as well.

“Tens of thousands of people congregate at stadiums. And with so many fixtures over the next few weeks, all clubs fear a carrier of the virus turning up to a match and passing it on.

“That’s why so many clubs are working to protect fans the best they can,” the tabloid quoted a club source as saying.