Toei animation announced on Monday that the simulcast and broadcasting for both One Piece and Digimon Adventure reboot will be suspended indefinitely due to the growing concerns of COVID-19 in Japan.

The spread of coronavirus had seriously crippled the Spring Anime 2020 seasons with many anime shows including Food Wars, Re:Zero, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU and others being delayed. Coupled with the latest news of One Piece and Digimon fans are sure to be heartbroken.

“Due to the state of emergency in Japan caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have carefully considered the safety measures for the spread and have decided to suspend the simulcast and Japanese broadcasting of both “One Piece” & our new series, “Digimon Adventure:” for the time being. Updates on the return of both series will be provided as soon as we know. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. Please stay safe and healthy,” a message on the facebook page of Toei animation read.

To All Our Fans:https://t.co/G9BfjtaxDa pic.twitter.com/zvRmbJbxuA

— Toei Animation (@ToeiAnimation) April 20, 2020

The dates from which the episodes will start re-airing will be shared on the official websites of both One Piece and Digimon Adventures. As a placeholder, One Piece will air older episodes of the series from the start of the Wano arc whereas Digimon will be replaced by  GeGeGe no Kitarō anime which is another Toei animation production.

The hiatus has been taken keeping in mind the current situation and to protect the health of the cast, staff, and all those involved.

Japan is currently under a state of emergency which covers the whole country. The emergency allows prefectural governors to request certain businesses, like movie theatres and others with a risk of large gatherings, to close down.