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Jonny Bairstow and England, teammates, await news about their tour of South Africa after another match was suspended.
Two members of the England tour group in South Africa have returned “unconfirmed positive tests” for Covid-19, the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Sunday, as the first one-day international match was canceled after an outbreak. virus in the hotel where both computers are. stay.
The ECB did not release any names and did not say whether the two members were players or managers. The two positive tests came after an additional round of testing with England players and officials on Saturday night. Those additional tests were prompted by news that two staff members at the Cape Town hotel used by both teams, and which is intended to be a biosecure environment, tested positive for Covid-19.
England’s players and management isolated themselves in their hotel rooms until further advice was received from medical teams, the ECB said, and there would be more testing by independent medical experts to confirm the findings.
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Three South African players have also tested positive during the tour, two of them after entering the hotel’s “bio-bubble”, where movement in and out is restricted. It is unclear if the two remaining ODIs will go ahead with England due to their return home on Thursday.
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The first ODI has already been postponed from Friday after the most recent South African player tested positive for Covid-19 in the hours leading up to the start of the game. None of the South African players who tested positive have been named.
A decision on the remaining matches in the series will be made once the test results with England’s party members are “independently ratified by medical experts,” the ECB said.
“We regret not being able to play in today’s ODI,” said Ashley Giles, England’s managing director of men’s cricket, “but the well-being of the players and support staff is our primary concern and while we await the results of further testing, the medical advice of both teams was that this game should not take place.
“We are in constant dialogue with Cricket South Africa and will continue to work closely with them to determine the best way forward.”
Despite public diplomatic statements from the ECB, the situation is very embarrassing for Cricket South Africa and the authorities responsible for keeping the bio-bubble safe in the hotel.
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Sky Sports cricket hosts Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussein and Ian Ward discuss the postponement of the first ODI in Newlands on Friday.
Two South African players tested positive before the three-game Twenty20 series, which went ahead despite concerns. England won that series 3-0. The latest positive test on the South African team had prompted CSA to launch an investigation into how it became infected in the biobubble. CSA also admitted on Friday that England had a right to be concerned about Covid-19 protocols at the hotel.
Sunday’s news that hotel staff and possibly members of the England touring party were also now infected illustrates how attempts to keep both teams safe had failed.
“We are deeply sorry for the situation we are in after the amount of time and energy that has been put into putting together a successful tour,” said CSA Cricket Director Graeme Smith. “We are in ongoing discussions with the ECB as we navigate the situation under the guidance of our combined medical teams.”
In a statement, the hotel said it was investigating how its two employees were infected. They had been living in the biobubble facility and had not left the hotel since Nov. 16, the hotel said. They worked in different parts of the hotel. Staff members and the latest South African player to contract Covid-19 were “isolated in apartments at the site some distance from the hotel,” hotel management said.
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Signs showing Covid restrictions in effect at Newlands Cricket Ground.
All England players and officials now face potential additional quarantine requirements before reuniting with their families before Christmas. South African regulations require that anyone who has tested positive for the coronavirus or has been in close contact with someone with the virus be quarantined for 14 days. The ODI series was due to end on Wednesday, with England departing the next day on a chartered plane for London. It is unclear if they will be allowed to return home as scheduled.
England’s limited six-game tour was arranged on short notice to fill the gaps in both teams’ schedules created by the virus pandemic. But it has coincided with South Africa, once one of the worst affected countries in the world, seeing signs of a second wave of the virus.
All six games were supposed to be played in Cape Town and nearby Paarl to limit travel by players and officials, but it is one of the regions in South Africa that is now seeing an increase in virus cases.
