ENGLAND TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA 2020
“This test surprised us because we are confident in the integrity of the biosecure environment,” Shuaib Manjra said in a video posted by CSA © Getty
The CSA medical director has admitted that the biobubble containing the teams from South Africa and England could be defective. And that could have led to the only positive test for the coronavirus that forced the first ODI in Newlands to be postponed on Friday.
The game was called off two hours before kickoff, about 12 hours after a South African player was confirmed to have contracted the disease, and was rescheduled for Monday.
“This test surprised us because we are confident in the integrity of the biosecure environment,” Shuaib Manjra said in a video posted by CSA on Friday. “More evidence indicates that this is a more recent infection that occurred within the biosecure environment. Clearly, there appears to be some kind of violation, which we have investigated in great detail to try to determine where it happened. We’ve been through a couple of different spaces and I tried to recount some events, talking to the player, looking at security cameras, looking at other information. We have not been able, to date, to identify where that source was. But clearly it is cause for concern.
“I am quite convinced that 99% of the time this environment is working. There may be a gap that we do not know about and may have caused this positive test. So I am not saying there is zero risk. There may be a risk that we cannot mitigate. There are a lot of moving parts on a tour like this and we are trying to control that.
Both squads and their support staff are staying at the same hotel, which has caused England to worry about the safety of their touring group. “Clearly, there is cause for concern and England have expressed concern,” Manjra said. “England are questioning the confidence they have in the biosecure environment, and rightly so. If there was a player who tested positive in the last week, who contracted the virus in the last week, they have cause for concern and we respect that concern.”
An ECB statement quoted Managing Director Ashley Giles as saying: “Our number one priority is the health and safety of the England team and the management group, and the right decision was made following discussions between the two boards and the respective medical equipments”.
Cricbuzz learned that England was heading to the ground when they were informed of a suspected case of Covid-19 in the bio-bubble. Their bus turned around and they returned to the hotel, where they received confirmation that the game was over shortly before CSA issued a statement saying so. England was given the day off but was limited to their rooms while the hotel’s common areas were thoroughly cleaned.
Manjra rejected the notion that the South Africans had broken biosecurity protocols: “I can categorically state that there is no player who can leave the hotel environment, simply by virtue of the fact that there is security around and security will not allow a player a player to leave, unless that player leaves in an assigned vehicle, which is an official vehicle with an official driver.
“There is a command center here run by the Claremont police colonel, and they strictly enforce the biobubble. They would not allow anyone to leave. In fact, some of our players had left as a group to cross to the [Vineyard] Oval [across the road from the hotel] train, and that became a cause for concern because [the police] I had seen. We had to address that concern with the colonel and the command center. Basically, it is impossible to leave this biosecure environment for any player or official. ”
The ODI series will continue for now, beginning with Sunday’s game in Paarl. The postponed game is scheduled for Newlands on Monday and the third at the same location on Wednesday.
“We have met with the English medical teams and we have planned a way,” Manjra said. “We will retest all of our players and [the] hotel staff [on Saturday]. We will await the results and determine a course of action. On Tuesday, before the final ODI on Wednesday, we will test the team again. ”
The latest positive test is the third among South Africans since England came to the country. Two more players from the home team were forced to isolate themselves because they had been in close contact with the first man to contract the virus. None of England’s players or support staff have tested positive.
© Cricbuzz
