A seventh member of the Pakistan cricket team in New Zealand has tested positive for COVID-19 and will join other infected teammates in quarantine to stop contamination.
Pakistani cricket team was serving their quarantine period in Christchurch when six of their players got tested positive for COVID-19. The Pakistan squad will went under test on Monday and in the meantime they remain confined to their rooms after permission to train while in isolation was revoked by New Zealand authorities. Earlier, The Pakistan cricket team touched base in New Zealand with a 35-member squad this year.
Six members of the 53-member squad tested positive on Tuesday when the team arrived in New Zealand from Pakistan and began its compulsory 14-day stay in managed isolation. The seventh member tested positive Friday when players and officials again were tested on the third day of their isolation period.
Ministry Of Health Confirming Seventh Pakistani Player Positive For COVID-19
“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 remainders of the results from the squad’s day-three swab testing, apart from the six who have already returned a positive result, are negative.”
Ministry of Health added that all overseas arrivals to New Zealand must spend two weeks in quarantine.
The 53-man squad will undergo further tests on Monday and in the meanwhile they’ll remain in their own rooms after permission to train while in isolation was revoked by New Zealand authorities.
New Zealand’s director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said Thursday that breaches of the rules were taken very seriously and the Pakistan team “as a whole has been issued with a final warning”.
“Rather than being in their own rooms which is a requirement for that first three days, until that first test comes back, there was some mingling in the hallways, chatting, sharing food and not wearing masks,” Bloomfield said.
Breakout among squad members would also be a serious issue which might put the tour in danger. Pakistan is due to play New Zealand in three Twenty20 internationals and two test matches. The first T20 will take place on December 18.
