English player Moeen Ali has tested positive for COVID-19 upon his arrival in Sri Lanka for their upcoming match series.
Moeen Ali is now highly unlikely to be featured in the first Test match against Sri Lanka as he was placed in quarantine for ten days. This decision came after he had tested positive for COVID-19 upon his arrival in Sri Lanka.
The positive test result came from a PCR test last Sunday after the 33-year-old player arrived at the Hambantota airport. It is in line with Sri Lanka’s guidelines that he will have to isolate for ten days. With that, his quarantine will end on January 13, the day before the first Test match in Galle. Although he hasn’t officially been ruled out yet, it is quite guaranteed that he would have to miss it.
After contract tracing had been conducted, it had turned out that Chris Woakes had been in close contact with Ali. with that, he has also been forced to self-isolate for a minimum of seven days.
Still, there is still a fear that the virus may have been spread to the other members of the squad during the journey to Sri Lanka. As all players and staff came all together in an 11-hour-flight and a bus trip to their hotel in Hambantota, it is still uncertain who Ali may have come in contact with. With that, all players and staff will have to be tested further.
Ali’s case is the first confirmed positive test that the England team had since they pushed through with the resumption of international cricket. Apparently, the two members who had tested positive during the limited-overs tour in South Africa were just false positives.
To date, it is still unclear whether or not Ali’s case is the new strain of the virus which has a higher rate of being transmitted. Should it be the new strain of the virus, then a huge impact may be seen on this tour against Sri Lanka as well as their upcoming tour against India.
England and Sri Lanka are to play three Tests and three ODIs which will start on January 14. To further understand these cricket formats, head over to Betwala.
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