CHENNAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) are closely monitoring the developments at Leela Palace in Chennai which has become a new COVID-19 cluster in the city. Three teams — Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram — are currently stationed at the hotel alongside match officials and scorers in a bio-secure bubble for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, starting on January 10.
After ITC Grand Chola, Leela Palace in MRC Nagar has become a COVID-19 hotspot with 20 employees of the hotel testing positive.
Confirming the numbers, a Chennai Corporation official said, "A total of 326 samples were tested, of which 20 came out positive. All events have been suspended at the hotel for a week and disinfection work was carried out. All employees and other contacts have been quarantined."
"All the 20 are employees of the hotel including chefs, securitymen and laundry staff. The first case was detected on December 31," said the corporation official.
Around 80 individuals associated with the Syed Mushtaq Ali meet, including 60 players, are undergoing quarantine in the hotel after arriving here on January 2. They have already completed one COVID-19 screening and all the results have come back negative. A second COVID test is currently underway, the results of which will be known on Tuesday.
The announcement that 20 hotel staff had tested positive for COVID-19 caused panic among the players and support staff. However, the BCCI has informed them not to panic as all the hotel staff serving the teams and match officials were kept under quarantine for a week (December 25 to be precise) before entering the bio-secure bubble. The staff serving the players underwent another round of tests and they all returned negative.
It is understood that none of these staff have come in direct contact with those who tested positive as the BCCI's medical team is monitoring the situation closely. Even those in the bio-secure bubble have not come in contact with anyone as movements are completely restricted on their respective hotel floors. "Their floors are not open for the public. So far there hasn't been any breach. Since the hotel staff have tested positive, we are just being extra cautious," an official in the know told The New Indian Express.
The BCCI has stationed a medical unit at the hospital which includes a doctor and two others to conduct the COVID-19 tests. If need be, the BCCI will review the video footage to check if any of those tested positive came in contact with those in the bio-secure bubble.
The BCCI is taking utmost care to ensuring there is no breach. So much so that there is a separate kitchen and chefs for the teams. After much deliberations, the BCCI had decided to begin the domestic season in January.
(With Bureau inputs)