Two Bangladesh women cricketers test positive for Omicron variant of Covid-19

Two women cricketers of Bangladesh tested positive for the Omicron variant of Covid-19 a little over a week after return from Zimbabwe, where the qualifiers for the 2022 Women’s World Cup were being held but were forced to be cancelled in the wake of a new variant of the virus spreading rampantly in southern Africa.

The development was confirmed by Zahid Maleque, Bangladesh health and family welfare minister, on December 11 (Saturday), who further stated that both the players have been placed in isolation immediately and will be kept under medical supervision, while the contact tracing is being carried out.

”It will take time to recover and according to the protocol we will keep them under watch for two weeks and they will be released after recovering fully,” Maleque was quoted by Cricbuzz. ”We are doing contact tracing and testing everyone who had come close to them,” he added.

Discovery of fresh cases extends quarantine duration for players from five days to 14

Earlier, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had confirmed that the national team’s quarantine was extended upon the discovery of two positive Covid-19 cases in the team that had returned to Dhaka on December 1 immediately after the International Cricket Council announced the decision to cancel the Women’s World Cup qualifier.

The team was placed under institutional quarantine upon their arrival in Bangladesh while being regularly tested. The players continued to return negative tests before the confirmation of the two cases on December 6.

“The team members, who were sharing the same room, had returned negative results in the two tests conducted in Dhaka on December 1 and 3. However, the report from a third PCR test on December 6 has shown both to be Covid-19 positive,” the BCB had said in a statement.

“As such, the mandatory isolation of the team, which was due to end today (Monday, December 6, 2021), has been extended as per the Covid-19 Management Protocol of the BCB. The team members will undergo further tests and evaluation during the extended isolation,” it added.

While the cricketers were initially set to leave the hotel after finishing their five-day quarantine on December 6, the recent development means they will have to complete a 14-day quarantine now, BCB’s women’s wing chairman Nadel Chowdhury confirmed.