SAI officials test negative

Seven Sports Authority of India’s Bengaluru campus officials, who had come in contact with the cook who tested positive for the novel coronavirus early this month, have tested negative for the virus.

“Moment we came to know about the cook, we sent our samples and in what comes as heartening news, none of the seven officials from inside the campus that were part of the meeting has tested negative,” said a source in the know of things.

“Sixteen people from outside the campus were also part of the meeting and their results are yet to come. Even the family members of all the contacts have been tested and their results are pending. But the main thing is none of the seven in-house officials has tested positive.”

On May 15, SAI held a meeting with many cooks, who had been sent back home once the first lockdown was announced, to discuss the way forward once the curbs were lifted.

One of the cooks passed away three days later following a heart-attack but his sample tested positive for Covid-19 a day later that sent the campus here into a tizzy, although the deceased entered only the Gate area and never came in touch with any athletes.

Hockey from Monday

The track and field facilities have been thrown open to athletes to resume their sporting activities while the hockey arena will start functioning from Monday.

“Athletes can resume their sporting activities so long as they follow all the SOPs. We need a few days to get the hockey arena ready. We need to sanitise it completely and since it has not been used for months, there’s a lot of cleaning that needs to be done. Monday we should be able to hand it over to them,” said an official on condition of anonymity.