Bangladesh Cricket Board has suggested all its players and employees to undergo Covid-19 test in order to ensure safety once the lockdown is lifted.
BCB chief physician Dr. Debashish Chowdhury informed this to the media Tuesday.
Bangladesh has been in unofficial lockdown since March 26 and until Tuesday afternoon, the country reported 10,929 Covid-19 cases in total, including the highest single-day cases with 786 more people testing positive.
Bangladesh witnessed a fall in death figures as only one individual died of Covid-19 over the same period, taking the number of fatalities to 183 in the country.
“Covid-19 test is not being done in private sector till now. Government labs are doing it and they have their own protocol. If someone does not have the symptom, will not be tested. We are expecting the government to allow Covid-19 test in private sector, until that we do not have an option [to have our players or BCB employees do the test],” said Dr. Debashish.
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“We will of course want, especially the players, to undergo Covid-19 test and we can approach the government that the players do not have the symptom, but for safety we want them to undergo the test. And if by then it is allowed in the private sector, then it can be managed easily,” he added.
BCB suspended all cricket activities in the country on March 19 and soon after, decided to run office from home.
With no on field activities, Dr. Debashish informed that all physiotherapy activities of the players are off at the moment and that the players have been advised to follow fitness drills at home.
“All physiotherapy of the players is off now due to the situation. There are no new injuries, given there is no cricket happening. We are concentrating on players’ fitness. They have been provided protocol online and are trying to follow it as much as possible. We will not be active on the field until the government directive. Once everything opens, we will be able to start our outdoor activities,” Dr. Debashish explained.