Cardiff City pair in precautionary self-isolation, confirms boss Neil Harris
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Cardiff City had been scheduled to host Leeds United on Sunday before EFL games were suspended
Cardiff City manager Neil Harris has confirmed a player and a member of staff are self-isolating amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Club sources said neither have tested positive for coronavirus and that the self-isolation is precautionary.
"We are fully aware, as I think most other teams are at the moment, that the danger is out there," Harris told the club's website.
Cardiff's game against Leeds United on Sunday had already been postponed.
The EFL had announced earlier in the day that league games would be suspended until 3 April.
But Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman doubts whether the Football League will be able to return to action early in April.
Dalman believes clubs will have to cope with what he hopes will be a short term hit, but he said: "I am not very optimistic that April 3 is when we will all go back to normality.
"This is the beginning of something that we genuinely do not know what we are walking into. In my mind I am certainly preparing myself for a much more prolonged postponement.
"We are dealing with a very unknown and a very dangerous virus. So it is not easy to make an informed decision,
"The government and the authorities are acting with caution. I would rather be more cautious than reckless."
All Championship clubs have nine games still to be completed and Cardiff are currently two points outside the play-offs, in ninth position.
Although Dalman is keen to complete the campaign, he said: "That is easy to say. It depends how bad this virus is.
"Of course we want to finish the season. Of course we want to make the play-offs, but we have to put the wider public interest in the forefront of our thinking.
"So we are no better or worse position than anyone else in the league. We will simply ride it through."
Cardiff have five home games remaining, but Dalman believes they will be able to cope with the financial implications of the postponement.
Mehmet Dalman has been Cardiff City chairman since July 2013
"One hopes that over a short period of time it will all even out," he said.
"But in the short term we all have to take a little hit on the gate receipts. Really we should be able to navigate ourselves through this. That is what we are here for."
Dalman said Cardiff are encouraging their staff to work from home as much as possible and are trying to enforce the general advice dealing with the virus.
"I have to say I expect these things to get a lot worse in the short term until they get better," Dalman added.
"In every angle we are dealing with a virus we know very little about.
"And I have to say I get very annoyed when people say it's just another form of flu - it is not. It is something much more serious than that."