SAI sends more than a dozen into quarantine

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As many as 19 people, including four top officials of the Sports Authority of India (SAI), South Centre here, have gone into quarantine following the death of one of its cooks, whose samples returned positive for coronavirus on Tuesday.

Gripped in fear, the centre has gone back into complete lockdown since then. The cook had attended a meeting called by SAI officials to discuss the resumption of kitchen activities at the centre on Friday. The cook, who is learnt to have visited a private hospital to see his relative later, died of a cardiac arrest.

On Wednesday, the SAI said in a statement that the situation has been reviewed. "The four officials, who were present in the meeting and live inside the campus, have been quarantined, as per the Government guidelines. The others, who live outside the centre, have been home quarantined," SAI said.

Narinder Batra, president of the Indian Olympic Association, said he was satisfied with the functioning of the centre. "SAI administration is doing its best to handle the issue and there is no reason to panic. It's clear that none of the players interacted with the person who tested positive," Batra said.

Meanwhile Captain (In) Ajay Kumar Bahl, the Senior Director of the centre, told DH that the cook didn’t move beyond the Gate area of the centre. “It’s true he came here (SAI) last Friday,” began Bahl. “The centre was closed for more than 60 days. Recently the Sports Ministry gave permission for the resumption of training. We needed more man power so we called many staffers. We had a proper screening system for all of them. Since they were 55 years and above, we re-assessed their situation and sent them back,” Bahl claimed

Bahl dismissed reports that the hockey players were in danger. “SAI should be applauded instead, for not allowing him inside. He was here at the Gate area for 30 minutes and was sent back. Later, when he went to meet his relative in a hospital, he died of cardiac arrest. What can we do? It’s unfortunate,” he said.

The senior director said he has sent out a message to all the athletes not to panic. The Sports Ministry, as per the guidelines from the Ministry of Home Affairs, gave a go-ahead to resuming training at stadiums and sports complexes two days ago. “We will restart training after we receive the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) from the head office,” he said.

Reacting to the situation, Hockey India said it won't shift the squads from the South Centre. "The question of moving out the teams from Bengaluru doesn't arise because it's the best facility in the country," HI CEO Elena Norman said.

Apart from the national men’s and women’s hockey squads, there are athletes who are bound for the Tokyo Olympics at the South Centre here. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the centre was shut on March 10.