NEW DELHI: New Zealand cricketer Tim Seifert has tested positive for coronavirus in India and will not be travelling back to the country on the charter flight with other players, support staff and commentators.
Seifert, who played for the Kolkata Knight Riders, was due to return to New Zealand on a charter flight with the IPL’s Kiwi cohort but the 26-year-old failed both his pre-departure PCR tests. New Zealand Cricket said he is experiencing moderate COVID-19 symptoms.
Seifert has been shifted to Chennai, where he will undergo treatment in the same hospital where Chennai Super Kings’ Australian batting coach Mike Hussey has been staying after contracting COVID-19.
New Zealand players in the squad for a test tour of England, which includes the inaugural World Test Championship final against India from June 18-22, have reached Maldives from Delhi.
The players’ scheduled to enter England on May 11 may be delayed, the NZC said. “Once Seifert has undergone treatment and the statutory period of isolation and has tested negative for COVID-19, he will be transferred back to New Zealand where he will undergo the mandatory 14-day period of managed isolation,” it added.