England cricket team advised to not take selfies with fans amid coronavirus scare

England's cricket team has been asked to refrain from taking selfies with fans amid the global coronavirus outbreak, the England Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Wednesday.

The team has also asked the fans who will be joining the tour to maintain a good level of hygiene as advised by the World Health Organisation Britain's National Health Service to avoid possible infection and spreading of illness.

"Following the world health agency's advice, and in order to protect the players and, in turn, the integrity and continuation of the Sri Lanka Test tour, the team has put in place several precautions, leading to a number of normal activities being cancelled for the foreseeable future," the ECB said in an official statement.

"England players and staff have been asked to avoid any unnecessary public engagements, and temporarily avoid casual supporter interaction such as selfies or autographs," added the ECB.

Earlier, before departing for Sri Lanka, England skipper Joe Root had revealed that the side would opt for fist bumps in place of hand-shakes amid the coronavirus outbreak.

"After the illnesses that swept through the squad in South Africa, we are well aware of the importance of keeping contact to a minimum and we've been given some really sound and sensible advice from our medical team to help prevent spreading germs and bacteria," cricket.com.au had quoted Root as saying.

"We are not shaking hands with each other, using instead the well-established fist bump, and we are washing hands regularly and wiping down surfaces using the anti-bacterial wipes and gels we've been given in our immunity packs," he added.

England will take on Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series. The first Test will be played from March 19-23.