Pak’s eighth player tests Covid positive in New Zealand

The visitors were denied permission to practice from the third day of their isolation period when some players breached Covid-19 protocols on their first day in Christchurch

Wellington: New Zealand government on Wednesday said that another member of the visiting Pakistan cricket team has tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of confirmed cases to eight.

The positive result was confirmed by New Zealand’s Ministry of Health in its daily bulletin on Covid-19 pandemic. The eighth member will now join the seven previously infected Pakistani players in quarantine.

“There is one new case of Covid-19 to report in managed isolation in New Zealand today. There are no new community cases.

“This person is a member of Pakistan cricket squad and was one of the three cases reported as under investigation yesterday. They have now been confirmed to have an active COVID-19 infection. The two other cases remain under investigation,” the Ministry of Health said in the bulletin.

However, sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board had earlier claimed that three more members of the 54-member Pakistan squad in New Zealand have tested positive for COVID-19.

“But the main thing is these three positive results are under investigation to find out whether they are historical cases or new infections,” the PCB source had said.

Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and pacer Muhammad Abbas were understood to be among the historical cases. The first six cases involving members of the Pakistan squad were detected on the team’s first day in New Zealand last week and the seventh shortly afterwards.
Since then the Pakistani players and team officials were being tested on every third and sixth days of their 14-day isolation period.

The visitors were denied permission to practice from the third day of their isolation period when some players breached Covid-19 protocols on their first day in Christchurch.