CAPE TOWN, Dec 6: Two members of the England touring party in South Africa have returned “unconfirmed positive tests” for COVID-19, the England and Wales Cricket Board said Sunday, as the first one-day international was canceled because of a virus outbreak at the hotel where both teams are staying.
The ECB did not release any names and didn’t say if the two members were players or officials. It said the two positive tests came after an additional round of testing on players and officials sparked by the news that two staff members at the Cape Town hotel used by both teams for the series had tested positive for COVID-19.
The players and management are now self-isolating in their rooms until further advice from the medical teams, the ECB said. The remainder of the tour is now in doubt after the first of three ODIs was already postponed from Friday after a South African player tested positive for COVID-19. The South African, who was also not named, is the third South African player to test positive during England’s tour.
The news that the two hotel staff members tested positive initially caused a delay to the start of Sunday’s game in the nearby city of Paarl. It was later abandoned with news regarding the two members of England’s party. The ECB stressed, however, that their tests were “unconfirmed” positives. The ECB and Cricket South Africa said in a joint statement that the medical advice had been to cancel the match.
The teams were due to play three ODIs, but it’s uncertain if they will go ahead now. England is due to return home on Thursday.
England’s six-game limited-overs tour was organised at short notice to fill gaps in both teams’ schedules created by the pandemic but it also comes while South Africa is seeing signs of a second surge (AP)
