NEW DELHI: Five Indian hockey players, including captain Manpreet Singh, have tested positive for coronavirus.
According to the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the players and captain contracted the virus at the team’s training base in Bengaluru and the number of infected players could rise.
An official from SAI said Manpreet, Surender Kumar, Jaskaran Singh, Varun Kumar and Krishan B Pathak had initially tested negative for the COVID-19 on their return to the training base after a month’s break.
At least players were subsequently tested for a second time after Manpreet and Surender displayed Covid-19 symptoms, the SAI said in a statement.
“The quarantined athletes did not interact with other athletes who were already present at the camp…few test results are still awaited,” it added.
It further said the players might have contracted the COVID-19 while traveling from their hometowns to Bengaluru.
The world health crisis continues to disrupt athletes’ training in India, the worst-hit country in Asia where COVID-19 cases have topped 2 million.
The country’s shooting federation has called off a camp for its elite shooters that was to begin this week on the outskirts of Delhi.
The number of people infected with the coronavirus worldwide has risen to more than 19.5 million.
The global epidemic coronavirus has caused 724,107 deaths in the world and affected 19,546,748 people while 12,547,754 patients have been cured. The number of people infected with a coronavirus in the United States has risen to 5,095,524 and the total number of deaths has reached 124,094.
In Brazil, more than 2.967 million people have been infected with corona and 99,702 have died. India is the third-largest country affected by the coronavirus, with more than 2,086,000 cases and 42,578 deaths.
In Russia, 877,135 people have been affected by Corona, bringing the total death toll to 14,725. The death toll from coronavirus in South Africa has risen to more than 9,900, with 545,476 people affected.