RUMOUR CONFIRMED

Chinese New Year celebrations in Melbourne’s east have been cancelled as the coronavirus outbreak escalates.

The 2020 Box Hill Chinese New Year Festival, which was scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed by organisers for “cultural and commercial reasons and out of respect for the difficulties currently being experienced by many people”.

Whitehorse Councillor Sharon Ellis said she was shocked by the decision.

“We weren’t foreseeing this coming,” she told 3AW’s Ross and John.

“We thought it could possibly be discussed, but all of a sudden we got the announcement.”

The celebrations are expected to be rescheduled at a later date.

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