Six Pakistani cricket players have tested positive for Covid-19 and the whole team purveyed with a “final warning” by the government of New Zealand after busting rules while in isolation in Christchurch.
The Pakistan cricket team is in New Zealand for a tour starting on December 18 with a 3-match T20I series and a 2-match Test series, ending on January 7. The 34-member touring squad, arrived in New Zealand on Tuesday, November 24. Twenty officials accompanied the players, and all 54 members were to be in a mandatory 14-day quarantine at the Hilton Hotel.
New Zealand’s Health Ministry on Thursday said all 53 members of the travelling team, including staff and players, were tested on November 24 when arrived and the positive results are from those covid tests.
Pakistan Cricket said in a statement all players in the team had tested negative four times before leaving Lahore. Two of the six results were “historical” infections while four were new. New Zealand Cricket said it had been made aware members of the squad may have violated strict protocols on the first day of their 14-day mandatory quarantine.
Pakistan squad receives a final warning.
A country like New Zealand where the virus has been mostly contained, these six new cases have come like an outbreak. The New Zealand health ministry has now directed that the players will “be tested a minimum of four times while in managed isolation” and all squad members would be confined to their designated rooms.
This action was justified after “several team members have been seen on CCTV at the facility breaking isolation rules, despite clear, consistent, and detailed communication of expected behaviors”.
Meanwhile, the series between New Zealand and West Indies starts on November 27 to kick start the nation’s home summer.
There have been zero cases of Corona in New Zealand for the past two weeks. On November 11, a single case in central Auckland caused the shutdown of the CBD for a day.