Tag: Covid_19 Testing

  • Five Covid-19 cases reported in three different franchises ahead of PSL 7

    Five Covid-19 cases reported in three different franchises ahead of PSL 7

    Five cases have been reported from as many as three franchises of the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) seventh edition which is set to start from January 27 in Karachi.

    As per details, two of the officials for the PSL 2022 season have now tested positive for Covid-19 which is not a piece of ideal news for the board.

    According to reports, West Indies batter Shimron Hetmyer, Australian all-rounder James Faulkner and England left-arm seamer Luke Wood have all tested positive for Covid-19 and are placed in isolation. They were expected to arrive in Karachi but their arrival has now been delayed and they will also miss the first game for the Quetta Gladiators against the Peshawar Zalmi.

    The majority of the players and all of the officials are expected to join the bio-bubble in Karachi by tonight, which has been set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to conduct Covid-19 tests as the majority of the personnel have been engaged in cricketing activities; this might result in additional Covid-19 positive cases being reported.

    As per Cricket Pakistan, a couple of PCB officials have also fallen prey to the pandemic whereas some players’ families have also reported testing positive for Covid-19.

    All the matches of the upcoming edition of PSL will be held in just the two venues of Lahore and Karachi to reduce the possibility of players contracting the virus through travel. The crowd capacity for the matches has been reduced to 25 percent and this will be a huge responsibility for the PCB to ensure the tournament is conducted according to safety measures.

    Chairman PCB, Ramiz Raja already had measures in place for the Covid-19 scenario and the franchises have agreed to take the field if each of the squad has 13 players available in order to ensure that the matches are not skipped.

  • Man with Covid-19 wears niqab to get on a flight, pretends to be his own wife

    Man with Covid-19 wears niqab to get on a flight, pretends to be his own wife

    An Indonesian man with Covid-19  boarded a flight from Jakarta to Ternate after wearing a niqab disguising as his own wife.

    As per reports, the man, who has been publicly identified only by the initials “DW,” boarded a Citilink domestic flight from Jakarta to Ternate wearing a burqa that covered him from head to toe.

    The man’s wife had tested negative for the virus so he attempted to use her ID and negative results to travel.

    A flight attendant reportedly told authorities that she saw “DW” go into bathroom of the plane, then came out wearing men’s clothes instead of the niqab.

    She reported it to the airport authorities in Ternate, who held the passenger  once he disembarked from the plane. 

    Read More: Indian couple gets married on plane to avoid Covid restrictions

    A health officer instantly tested him for Covid, and the PCR result came positive.  

    Ternate Covid task force operational head Muhammad Arif Gani said: ‘The airport immediately contacted the Ternate City Covid-19 Handling Task Force team to evacuate the man while wearing personal protective equipment, and then taking him in an ambulance to his house to self-isolate, where he will be supervised by Task Force officers.’

    Once he will be done with quarantine period, police said they intend to prosecute the man.

    Mr Gani said airport security will be updated with extra screening in response to the incident.

  • ‘Behave yourself’: Shoaib Akhtar slams NZ Cricket over tour threat

    ‘Behave yourself’: Shoaib Akhtar slams NZ Cricket over tour threat

    Pakistan cricket legend Shoaib Akhtar has hit out at New Zealand Cricket (NZC) for threatening to cancel Pakistan’s tour after six Pakistani players tested positive for COVID-19 at their managed isolation facility in Christchurch.

    Akhtar warned NZC to “behave” themselves for threatening to cancel the tour, accusing the New Zealand governing body of “treating the Pakistan team like a club team”.

    “New Zealand’s comment that if Pakistan team’s SOPs (standard operating procedures) are not in place then they will cancel the tour, is below the belt,” Akhtar said in a video on his YouTube channel.

    “I want to give a message to NZC that this is not a club team, it’s Pakistan national cricket team,” said the former cricketer. “We don’t need you. Our cricket has not finished.”

    Akhtar went on to say, “You will get money for broadcasting rights. So, you should be indebted to us that we decided to tour your country in such difficult times.”

    “You are talking about Pakistan — the greatest country on the planet — so behave yourself and stop giving such statements. Be careful next time. Pakistan team now needs to smash them in T20 series.”

    “The PCB should show some toughness,” he remarked.

    Akhtar also said, “If I was in their place, I would have given a statement saying that if NZC isn’t happy, we won’t play them and will bring our team back and we won’t play against you for five years.”

    Earlier, NZC was appraised that some members of the Pakistan team had violated protocols on the first day of managed isolation. The entire team was given a “final warning” by the government for breaching rules.

    New Zealand’s Ministry of Health stated that several team members had been seen on CCTV at the facility breaching managed isolation rules despite “clear, consistent and detailed communication of expected behaviors while in the facility”.

    In a statement, the ministry said that the team as a whole has been issued a final warning.

    The health ministry shared that the 53 members of the squad arrived in Christchurch on November 24 and were tested on day one, with the six cases coming as a result of the tests.

    All cases were being moved to quarantine rooms within the facility. Members of the team will be tested a minimum of four times while in managed isolation, the health ministry informed.

    While Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not officially confirmed the names, journalists have shared their pictures which include former captain Sarfraz Ahmed, Abid Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Rohail Nazir, Danish Aziz and Naseem Shah.

    According to reports, the players are unhappy in quarantine, especially after the positive cases and the isolation feels like a prison sentence for them.

    Players weren’t able to condole with middle-order batsman Khushdil Shah, whose father passed away recently. The process was carried out through phone calls, instead.

    Pakistan is set to face the Black Caps in three T20 internationals and two tests, with the first match on December 18.