Australia Test captain Tim Paine on Wednesday said the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic is bigger than the game of cricket and needs to be taken seriously, justifying the suspension of almost all the ongoing action to contain the deadly outbreak.

The disease, which has so far claimed almost 8,000 lives and infected close to 2,00,000 people globally, has led to the cancellation or postponement of sports events across the globe.

“As hard as it is for all cricketers at the moment I think it is time that we take a break. I know it’s even harder this time of year when you’ve got finals and trophies are on the line and it’s all there to be won but this is bigger than us, bigger than the game of cricket but it’s something that needs to be taken very seriously,” Paine said in a video on Twitter. “I hope that we’re all back playing the game we love and going about our lives the way we want to as soon as possible.”

In Australia, the three-ODI series against New Zealand was called off, while the upcoming three T20I series in New Zealand, starting March 24 was also postponed. The remainder of the Sheffield Shield competition has been cancelled too.

The Australian women’s cricket team, which won the T20 World Cup recently, also had its limited-overs tour of South Africa cancelled.

Sachin Tendulkar also took to Twitter to educate the people about the steps they need to take during the ongoing health crisis.

“We are all worried due to the coronavirus. There are few things which I can keep in mind like stay away from public places as it can spread from one person to other, stay away from people with symptoms of flu. See a doctor if you show symptoms or call the helpline number, wash hands with soap as many times as possible,” he said.