CSK player and staff test covid-19 positive

Mumbai/New Delhi: At least 10 members of the M.S. Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) contingent, which is currently stationed in Dubai, have tested positive for covid-19, making it the first such case among the eight teams in the UAE for the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL).

According to an official in the know, one India player and a senior ranking official are among those who have tested positive. However, there is no official confirmation of the total number of positive cases in the CSK camp.

The identity of the India player could not be established.

“There was a Zoom/video meeting on Thursday night where the issue of covid positive cases in CSK was announced. The India player who has tested positive has mild symptoms,” said an official.

Another person added: “A high-ranking official is also positive, along with a member of the social media team. When CSK asked for an extension of their one-week quarantine period with BCCI on Friday, it raised an alarm that something was amiss.”

The CSK franchise is staying at the Taj Dubai hotel. They arrived in the UAE on 21 August and their one-week quarantine should have ended on Friday. CSK were supposed to have started training on Saturday, but now there is no clarity on when it will begin.

The novel coronavirus has an incubation period of 2-14 days, and it can take 2-5 days for an infected person to show up positive in an RT-PCR test. So, the exact point where the CSK members contracted the virus may be hard to trace. However, according to the BCCI’s standard operating procedure (SOP) for this year’s IPL, every travelling member was required to give their travel history for the last three months.

The members were to be tested thrice upon landing in the UAE in a span of six days. Till all tests come negative, the players are mandated to stay within their individual rooms. Only after the first week are they allowed to enter a ‘team bio-bubble.’

The covid-positive members in the CSK contingent have not been interacting closely with others since 21 August, the day they reached Dubai, but travelled together from India before that.

As per SOP, in case of any positive case in the bio-secure bubble, the person who has tested positive will be isolated and contact-tracing will follow.

The India player and other members, even if they are asymptomatic or carrying mild symptoms, will have to be “isolated in the designated area outside the bio-secure environment for two weeks” according to the guidelines.

The SOP also mentions: “After the two weeks’ isolation, the individual must return two negative PCR test reports done 24 hours apart before being permitted to re-enter the bio-secure environment”.

CSK are expected to play the opening game on 19 September and the India player, who is a regular in the playing XI, may have to miss the initial stages.