4 Sri Lankan athletes and coach test covid positive in Birmingham

Four Sri Lankan athletes and a coach have been sidelined by Commonwealth Games health authorities in Birmingham as they have tested positive for Covid-19.

The Sri Lankan contingents has reportedly reached Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games starting on Thursday and are expected to be accommodated in the villages spread across the West Midlands area after clearing the Covid-19 tests conducted on their arrival.

The Games have been hit by a spate of Covid-19 positive cases with more than a dozen positive cases daily in the last few days.

With more athletes and team officials reaching Birmingham on Wednesday evening, the organizing committee of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the Commonwealth Games Federation officials have defended the measures taken by them.

The Birmingham 2022 Games are being held with very relaxed Covid-19 protocols with only the sportspersons and support staff asked to undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test before departure and another after arrival in Birmingham.

The Games administrators had reported around dozen positives in the last few days as around 1400 sportspersons reached the second largest city in the United Kingdom for the Games. However, they expressed confidence that the organising committee’s approach to the spate of positive cases.

The UK government has removed all travel restrictions for people travelling to the country for the Commonwealth Games.

It was also reported that the organising committee would handle the positive cases “case by case”, with each testing individual undergoing a risk assessment before deciding whether they should be placed in isolation.

The report said that they are taking into consideration the vaccination status of the participants and their previous test records to decide whether to send them to the village or the quarantine hotel.