WORCESTER Warriors will be without Gallagher Premiership action until Friday, April 24, at the earliest due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

England's rugby union top flight has been suspended for five weeks over four rounds of matches.

The final weekend of April is currently pencilled in for the resumption when Warriors are due to host Bristol Bears at Sixways on Friday, 24.

That means Saturday's home game with Gloucester, the March 28 trip to Wasps, the April 11 visit of Harlequins and the April 18 trek to Exeter Chiefs will all have to be rearranged.

A Premiership Rugby statement said: "We are sorry to tell our fans that we will be postponing our season for five weeks, in line with the advice of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which confirmed that the government would no longer support mass gatherings.

"The safety of our fans, players and staff is our first priority and we would like to wish all of those who are affected our heartfelt best wishes and a very speedy recovery."

The quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, scheduled for April 3, 4 and 5, have also been postponed but do not affect Worcester.

The Pro14 and French Top 14 leagues were suspended indefinitely last week.

There are nine rounds of Premiership matches remaining before the scheduled semi-finals and final in June.

Exeter lead the table by five points after 13 rounds of fixtures.

The decision to suspend action followed a meeting of the league's rugby committee.

The Premiership Cup final between Sale and Harlequins, scheduled for Sunday, was postponed after a Quins staff member reported flu-like symptoms, meaning there were no English top-flight fixtures played at the weekend.

The decision on the European matches was taken after a conference call of the board of European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR).