All the South African cricketers–who had out themselves into 14 days of self-isolation following their return from India midway through the tour– have been tested negative for the deadly coronavirus.
In March, the South African men’s cricket team as well supporting staff had decided to go into self-isolation after their return from India following the cancellation of the three-match ODI series between the two sides.
The opening ODI of the series was abandoned without a ball bowled due to incessant rain at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala on March 12.
Now, Cricket South Africa’s chief medical officer Dr Shuaib Manjra said that all the players were symptom-free while those who opted to go for tests also returned negative.
“All the players were symptom-free and those who opted to perform the tests returned negative results,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Dr Manjra as saying.
Just like India, South Africa is also observing a 21-day nationwide lockdown and as a result, the players are prohibited to leave home except to buy food or medicine. South Africa is on Day 7, which means the cricketers will have to remain in lockdown for two more weeks.
Reflecting on the same, fitness trainer Tumi Masekela said that the forced break would give time to players to address the small niggles that they may have.
“We’ve got time now to work with players in terms of addressing the small niggles that they may have. They have got time to rest and also to do the strength work. But the one big thing is the running volume, the aerobic capacity base, which I am going to try and build up in the next two weeks, so that means lot of running, or a lot of cardio work, cycling or swimming,” Masekela said.
The virus outbreak, which was first reported in China’s Wuhan in December 2019, has so far affected more than 10,30,000 people and claimed the lives of more than 54,000 persons globally.
Source: Zee News