Around 3,500 young footballers in the county have been asked to ditch traditional handshakes before their matches this weekend, in an effort to stop coronavirus spreading.

The Kent Youth League in which 197 teams play in 16 divisions is suspending the traditional handshakes before their Sunday matches as players in the Premier League are doing.

The Gills who face a trip to Sunderland tomorrow, will also be following suit as League 1 has also suspended handshakes until further notice.

In Tonbridge, a popular event to celebrate the start of spring has been cancelled over coronavirus fears.

Hadlow College usually welcomes around 10,000 visitors to its lambing weekend but the spread of COVID-19 has led organisers to axe the event, which was due to take place next Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15.

The move came after the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in Kent on Monday, as confirmed cases across the country reached 116 this week including one woman in her 70s who became the first virus fatality in UK.

The over-50s travel specialists Saga, which is also based in Kent says it has seen a spate of cancellations for its cruises and holidays as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

The firm, headquarters in Folkestone and with a call centre in Thanet, says it expects the reaction to the health crisis to have an impact on its travel business - prompting concerns for its financial situation.

And the rapid spread of the bug has left shoppers stripping shelves of hand sanitiser and websites hiking up their prices.

Meanwhile a global coffee chain has banned the use of reusable cups in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Branches of Starbucks in the county and across the country have temporarily banned their customers from bringing in their own refill cups in efforts to stop the virus spreading.

Customers were assured they would still receive their 25p discount if they take their cups into branches with them, but their hot drink would be served in a paper cup.

The 5pm charge for a paper cup has also been temporarily suspended, it is understood other well known high street brands, like Costa Coffee and Greggs have no plans to change their reusable cup policy.

Starbucks is also introduced increased cleaning measures in their branches for all crockery and plates and the measures were decided internally rather than at the advice of health officials.

The coffee chain's Europe spokesman, Robert Lynch said: "Out of an abundance of caution, we are pausing the use of personal cups or tumblers in our stores across the UK.

"However, we will continue to honour our 25p discount for anyone who brings in a personal cup."

And coronavirus isolation pods have been spotted at two Kent hospitals.

Coronavirus: Everything You Need To Know

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