PAK vs NZ: After NZC’s Final Warning, 7th Pakistani Cricketer Tests Positive For COVID-19
The Pakistan team has already received a final warning from the New Zealand Health Ministry after players breached protocols on their first day in isolationThe Pakistan team has already received a final warning from the New Zealand Health Ministry after players breached protocols on their first day in isolation
On November 27, New Zealand Cricket and the government gave Pakistani cricketers the final warning for breaching Covid-19 protocols. Just after a day, NZC gave warning, another Pakistani cricketer tested positive for Covid-19. Now overall seven players have tested positive for Coronavirus.
The Pakistan team along with the staff has remained in isolation in Christchurch after six of them found infected with the virus. Their training in the isolation has also been exempted till the investigation. Now another Covid-19 case will only create chaos for the visiting side.
“One additional member of the Pakistan cricket squad has today tested positive,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Saturday, confirming the seventh patient.
“The remainder of the results from the squad’s day-three swab testing, apart from the six who have already returned a positive result, is negative.”
The Pakistan cricket team and staff were tested on four occasions before departing for New Zealand and all of them had tested negative for the virus. While, on arriving in Christchurch, six players of the visiting team found infected with the virus. While the regulations demand all players and staff to undergo quarantine for 14 days, the Pakistan team was exempted to train in isolation but their breach of protocols saw that exemption being put on hold.
The 53-man Pakistani contingent, on Monday, will again undergo Covid tests but till those results come out negative, they aren’t allowed to step out of their hotel rooms.
New Zealand’s director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield, on Friday, confirmed that the entire Pakistan team has been issued a final warning over breaching COVID-19 protocols. Earlier, they were found to have breached the Covid protocols on 3-4 different occasions, which forced the authorities to cancel their training privileges.
