Multiple staff members at the ICC headquarters in Dubai test COVID positive

The fear of the coronavirus virus (COVID-19) has now reached the International Cricket Council. On Sunday, a source privy to the development said that certain personnel at the ICC headquarters have been tested positive for the virus.

The staff members who contracted the virus at the ICC headquarters based in Dubai are now under mandatory isolation as defined by the UAE government.

Speaking to ANI, a source in the ICC said, “ICC staffers have been tested positive. Affected staff members are isolating as per local protocols and those who have been in close contact are also asked to isolate themselves. To be extra careful we are having the office deep cleaned so people will work from home for a few days. It was something we were very prepared for, so it is being managed very well and it will not affect IPL at all.”

Given that six of the eight IPL franchises have set up camps and are also using training facilities at the ICC Academy in Dubai, some sort of health scare may have arrived.

A senior board source told PTI on the condition of anonymity, "the ICC Academy is perfectly safe because neither it is adjacent to the office headquarters nor are any ICC staff present at the practice session. So there is no question of any health scare as far as IPL teams are concerned." 

It has also been noted that the council had been well prepared to tackle the uncertainty.

"It has been managed very well by the ICC as they were prepared considering the second surge of cases in the UAE," the board official said.