Six Pakistani cricketers test positive for COVID-19 in New Zealand

Six members of the Pakistan cricket team on a tour of New Zealand have tested positive for COVID-19, the country’s cricket board said on Thursday.

All six have been moved into quarantine and the team’s exemption to train while in isolation has been put on hold, New Zealand Cricket said.

The team is scheduled to play three Twenty20 internationals and two tests from December 18, while a Pakistan ‘A’ tour will also be held concurrently.

The health ministry said all 53 members of the touring squad, including players and staff, were tested on arrival on November 24.

“Two of these six results have been deemed ‘historical’; four have been confirmed as new,” NZC said in a statement. It did not, however, reveal the names of the players who have tested positive for the dreaded virus.

NZC said all of the players in the squad had tested negative four times before leaving Lahore.

NZC added that members of the Pakistan squad may have breached strict biosecurity protocols on the first day of their 14-day mandatory isolation.

The health ministry revealed that “several team members have been seen on CCTV at the facility breaching managed isolation rules, despite clear, consistent and detailed communication of expected behaviours”.

“The team as a whole has been issued with a final warning,” it said.

The ministry said the players will now “be tested a minimum of four times while in managed isolation” and the entire squad would be confined to their rooms.