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These 10 Pakistani Players Tested Positive for COVID-19 ahead of England Tour
- Sports
Usama Tahir- 6minutes read
With each passing day, the emergence of Global Pandemic, CoronaVirus has also been frequent and more abhorrent in Pakistan. The number of patients has risen from 100 to 100,000 in just a few weeks. The Pandemic has gipped the nations with its deadly confinement, even sports players are not safe from it. PCB recently named some players who have contracted the Virus. These 10 Pakistani Players Tested Positive for COVID-19 ahead of England Tour.
The PCB stated that a total of 35 players and support staff members were tested for the virus ahead of their England tour. However, a total of 10 players are tested positive for COVID-19 during a round of tests ahead of the squad assembling for their tour of England.
Pakistan’s Tour of England
Good News for all the Cricket Fans around the Globe as Cricket Started Emerging as England Sets to Host Pakistan to play three Tests Matches and three t20 Internationals this Summer. However, the Tour is Marked by Strict Safety Conditions. The Payers and officials will stay at on-site hotels in biosecure conditions.
The players and support staff have a further two rounds of Covid-19 testing before departure and in England, the entire touring party will be tested every five days.
These 10 Pakistani Players Tested Positive for COVID-19 ahead of England Tour
Initially, three players, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan were tested positive. Later on, when other players and officials were tested then, Fakhar Zaman, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan and Wahab Riaz were also added to the list a day later. In addition, one member of support staff, the team masseur Malang Ali, has also tested positive.
Pakistan have announced that a further seven players have now tested positive for COVID-19.
Fakhar Zaman, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan and Wahab Riaz have all tested positive, in addition to the three cases named earlier. pic.twitter.com/W7CyWemDui
— ICC (@ICC) June 23, 2020
However, the remaining players were displaying symptoms before testing but not contracted the Virus, according to PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan.
“The recent positive tests of some of the fittest athletes, who had not shown any symptoms, clearly reflect the danger this virus possesses,” Khan said in a press statement. “As such, and on behalf of the PCB, I once again request the public to strictly adhere to all safety precautions as advised and recommended by the federal and provincial governments to ensure their health and safety as well as of their dear and near ones.
“As regards the players, who have tested positive, we will continue to monitor and support them, including conducting antibody tests, and as soon as they test negative, they will be flown to join the squad in England. At the moment, they have been advised to go into self-isolation so that they not only recover quickly but also prevent their other family members from being infected.”
Despite the setback, Khan insisted that the tour to England was not under threat, though he confirmed contingency plans were being put together for replacements should more players test positive during later rounds of testing.
“The tour to England is very much on track and the side will depart as per schedule on 28 June. Fortunately, all the first-choice red-ball squad, barring Mohammad Rizwan, are negative, which means they can start training and practising immediately after they have been tested and given the all-clear when they arrive in England.
“In the meantime, Misbah-ul-Haq is reviewing the training schedule in England and is firming up plans for reserve players to be tested as a backup.”
According to the PCB, players who have tested negative will undergo a second round of testing on Thursday 25 June, having assembled together in a bio-secure environment in Lahore. Those who test negative a second time will then depart for England, where they will be tested once more within 24 hours of arrival. They will then enter a two-week quarantine, as per UK government regulations, during which they will be able to train in a bio-secure environment.
Players who test positive, or have already tested positive, throughout this process will be able to rejoin the squad after they have finished their minimum quarantine period and subsequently returned two negative tests.
Also Read: England to Resume Test Cricket against West Indies in July Amid Covid-19 Impact
