The International Ice Hockey Federation and Hockey Canada are expected to cancel the 2020 Women's World Championship in Halifax and Truro, Nova Scotia, due to the growing threat of the coronavirus, reports TSN's Darren Dreger.

The tournament was scheduled to begin March 31. Six other IIHF events scheduled this month were canceled earlier this week due to the virus, and the focus will now shift to whether the World U-18 Championship in April and the men's worlds in May can go on as originally planned, Dreger adds.

Numerous sporting events around the world have recently been canceled, postponed, or played without fans in attendance in an effort to stop the virus from spreading.

The NHL sent a memo to all teams Friday to remind players to limit contact with fans and also order league employees to stop all business-related travel outside North America.

The Women's World Championship was set to feature a 10-team field: Canada, the United States, Finland, Russia, and Switzerland made up Group A, while Japan, Germany, Czech Republic, Denmark, and Hungary were in Group B.

In 2019, Team USA defeated Finland to claim its fifth consecutive gold medal at the event.

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