PCB decides to hire Pakistan Army doctors for each PSL-7 team: sources

— PSL
— PSL

KARACHI: As part of its measures against COVID-19, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to hire the services of Pakistan Army’s doctors for each team participating in the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 7, well-placed sources revealed. 

Sources privy to the matter said that one doctor from Pakistan Army Medical Corps will be part of each squad of the PSL teams. Likewise, in the ICC T20 World Cup, players and officials of each PSL team will have to undergo rapid antigen tests at the hotel on a daily basis, Daily Jang reported.  

Strict measures will be in place to contain the spread of COVID-19 during the mega event, sources said, adding that it will not be possible to carry out PCR tests every day.

The Army’s doctors will be responsible for conducting health tests and recording the temperature of the players. They had also been hired during the PSL-6, the sources added.

Well-informed sources said that as per the COVID-19 protocols announced by the PCB, domestic and foreign players cannot be quarantined for the entire week ahead of the league.

However, a negative PCR test report (max 72 hours old) before leaving their home or country will be mandatory for all the players. Upon arrival in Karachi, each player will be tested for the virus again.

Players with two negative tests in a week will be allowed to enter the bio-secure bubble, the sources said. A PCB high-ranking official said that PCB is helpless when it comes to containing the virus in the prevailing situation, adding that the board will, however, take measures to ensure rapid antigen tests of each player is carried out on daily basis.

As per the standard operating procedures (SOPs), instead of commercial flights, chartered flights will be used to move players from Karachi to Lahore.

Two teams will travel in one chartered flight at a time, sources added.  

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan had recorded its highest number of COVID-19 cases in a single day since October 30, as 708 infections were detected during the last 24 hours, official data showed today.

The statistics issued by the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) suggested that 45,643 diagnostic tests were conducted overnight, during which 708 people tested positive for coronavirus.

Alarm bells ringing as Omicron starts spreading ahead of PSL-7

The rising number of coronavirus cases of the Omicron variant has set alarm bells ringing at the Pakistan Cricket Board ahead of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season seven scheduled to start from January 27.

On December 29, the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, had said that 75 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant were reported in Pakistan, including 33 in Karachi where the first case was reported on December 13, 2021, while Lahore reported 13.

The PCB high officials had agreed to hire the services of a foreign company for bio-security arraignments of the event to prevent the players and the officials from the new strain of the virus. The firm will be given complete powers to implement the SOPs.

The cricket body had decided that strict action will be taken against those players who will violate the rules. The PCB had already announced to book an entire hotel for participants of the league. Different zones will be formed in the hotel for the players and officials and no irrelevant individual will be allowed to enter the zones.

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