Amid coronavirus scare, South Africa on Friday committed to the scheduled three-match ODI series in India which starts on March 12 at Dharamsala. (More Cricket News)
Cricket South Africa (CSA), confirming the series, released a statement saying, "Proteas will be traveling to India via Dubai and landing and spending a day in Delhi, then proceeding to play in Dharamshala, Lucknow and Kolkata. None of the playing venues have recorded positive cases and travel between these cities will be via chartered flights reducing the risk even further. The risks in Dubai and Delhi are considered low."
In the wake of the coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year, many sporting events across the world have been either cancelled or postponed in recent weeks. The outbreak has so far claimed more than 3000 lives and infected close to 100,000 people across the world.
India's coronavirus patient count is 31 at this point, including 16 Italian tourists.
Meanwhile, South Africa on Thursday reported the first case of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Read CSA' full statement:
Cricket South Africa (CSA) is fully conscious of the risks presented in regard to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and has engaged in a formal risk assessment process to ensure the health and safety of and duty of care to our players and staff. This risk assessment is informed by information provided by international experts, the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the South African Department of Health and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). We have also been liaising with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the South African embassy in India and Indian security and risk experts. The government of India has also provided the necessary assurances.
The Standard Bank Proteas will be traveling to India via Dubai and landing and spending a day in Delhi, then proceeding to play in Dharamshala, Lucknow and Kolkata. None of the playing venues have recorded positive cases and travel between these cities will be via chartered flights reducing the risk even further. The risks in Dubai and Delhi are considered low.
While the risk remains low, precautionary measures are necessary because of the highly infectious nature of the disease. The team has been appraised of hygiene precautions, avoidance measures, and symptom recognition in addition to being provided with travel kits.
CSA Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shuaib Manjra will be traveling with the team as Team Doctor and will keep abreast of developments in India and worldwide and advise CSA and team management accordingly.
The tour is South Africa's final series of the 2019-20 summer.
