IPL 2021: 2 ground-staff members among 3 more COVID-19 positive cases at Wankhede

The Wankede stadium is due to host its first IPL game of the season on April 10, following the lung-opener in Chennai between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 9.

Two more ground staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Wankhede Stadium ahead of IPL 2021. (Source: Twitter)

Two more members of the ground-staff and a plumber at the Wankhede Stadium have tested positive for COVID-19, a day after the facility was cleared to host its share of 10 Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. The stadium is due to host its first IPL game of the season on April 10, following the lung-opener in Chennai between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 9.

“Three at the stadium have tested positive, two are groundsmen,” a Mumbai Cricket Association source informed news agency PTI.

Earlier last Saturday, 10 ground-staff members of the stadium had tested positive, but most of them have since recovered. On Monday, the Maharashtra government cleared the decks for the event in Mumbai despite the weekend lockdown provisions and night curfew in the city.

The government allowed teams to practice and travel from their respective hotels to the stadium after 8pm, when the night curfew would be on to curb the pandemic. On Tuesday, Maharashtra reported over 47,000 COVID-19 cases of which Mumbai accounted for more than 9,000.

Earlier, the Maharashtra government on Monday (April 5) cleared the decks for the Indian Premier League (IPL) to take place in the COVID-19-ravaged Mumbai, allowing teams to practice after 8pm and travel to their respective hotels during the night curfew that has been imposed to contain the pandemic. Due to the massive surge of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai and Maharashtra, the state government on Sunday (April 4) announced ‘Break the Chain’, under which section 144 and night-curfew from 8pm to 7am on weekdays has been imposed on entire Maharashtra, including Mumbai.

The guidelines are to be implemented from Monday evening. However, the state government has allowed the IPL teams to practice beyond 8pm, provided there is ‘strict adherence to bio-bubble’. The IPL 2021 starts in Chennai on April 9.