Pak vs SA: Cricketer who tested COVID-19 positive joining squad after tests return negative

• PCB says player will join squad in bio-secure bubble on March 23 after remaining in isolation for 24 hours.
• PCB says player will undergo two further tests on March 24.
• Remaining members of squad are attending a training camp in Lahore and have cleared third round of coronavirus tests. 

LAHORE: A player who tested positive for coronavirus will join the squad on March 23 after his second COVID-19 test returned negative, said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday.

“A member of the South Africa-bound Pakistan men’s cricket team, who had last week tested positive, has now returned two negative tests,” read the PCB statement.

The PCB said that the player will join the squad in the bio-secure bubble on March 23 after remaining in isolation for 24 hours. It added that once he enters the bubble, he will “undergo two further tests on March 24”.

Read more: Player named in Pakistan squad for African tour tests positive for coronavirus, says PCB

“If the results of both the tests are negative, then he will be allowed to integrate with the side and cleared to travel to Johannesburg on March 26,” said the PCB.

On the other hand, the PCB said that the remaining members of the squad that are attending a training camp in Lahore have cleared the third round of coronavirus tests. The tests were conducted on March 21.

The PCB said that the final tests of the complete squad will be done on March 24.

Player named in Pakistan squad for African tour tests positive for coronavirus: PCB

Last week, PCB had announced that a player named in Pakistan's squad for the upcoming series in South Africa and Zimbabwe had tested positive for coronavirus.

"A total of 35 tests were conducted on the South Africa-bound Pakistan men’s national cricket team on Tuesday, 16 March. All squad members have tested negative, except for one player," said the PCB in a statement.

Read more: Wasim names Pakistan squad for Zimbabwe, South Africa tours

The PCB did not identify the player who tested positive.

The cricket board said barring the player that tested positive, the rest of the squad were asked to assemble in Lahore for the training camp. The camp had begun on Friday at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.