Coronavirus Outbreak: Cricket South Africa reports seven positive COVID-19 cases in organisation

Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday revealed that seven people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus after mass testing was conducted in the organisation. CSA conducted over 100 tests throughout the country on affiliate staff and some of the contracted professional players, including the franchise training squads that had been assembled after the government announced that non-contact sport could resume in Level 3 of the nationwide lockdown. [caption id=“attachment_4221359” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Getty Images[/caption] “We were definitely going to have people testing positive. Having conducted over 100 tests, seven is actually quite low,” CSA’s acting CEO Jacques Faul told ‘Sport24’. However, Faul did not reveal if any player returned a positive result. “Our medical ethical protocol does not allow us to share info about people that have tested positive,” Faul said. The contagion has infected over nine million across the globe and former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza and ex-Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi are among the cricketers to have tested positive for the virus. In South Africa, Solo Nqweni, a first-class cricketer who has been battling Guillan-Barre Syndrome for a year besides other health issues, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus last month. As governments across the world eased lockdown restrictions, South Africa looked set to resume cricket with the CSA announcing the launch of an innovative competition titled ‘3TCricket’ competition, Solidarity Cup, where three teams were to play in a single match at SuperSport Park in Centurion. However, the CSA then indefinitely postponed the tournament, scheduled for a 27 June start, saying that more work is needed to stage it.