Kuwait City, March 3 (IANS) The Kuwait Olympic Committee has postponed the Gulf Olympic Games, which was scheduled to take place between April 3 and 14, to next December because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, a statement said.

The decision aims at protecting the safety of the athletes, executives and technicians, the committee said in a press statement.

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar were supposed to take part in the Gulf event. Kuwait's Health Ministry had announced 10 new cases of coronavirus in the country on Monday, bringing the total number to 56, according to media reports.

--IANS dm/arm