After the fourth round of testing in the Bafana Bafana camp on Tuesday, it was not a clean bill of health for the national South African team departing for Zimbabwe, to participate in the Fifa 2022 World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe in Harare on Friday.
While every precaution was taken to ensure the safety of the team in the ‘bio bubble’ bad news struck on Wednesday morning.
Thibang Phete, who plays for Portuguese club Belenenses SAD, was missing from training, after his PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test came back positive for Covid-19, and was isolated immediately.
Later it was flagged that another positive test returned for Thabiso Kutumela, as the team's results became available throughout the morning. Kutumela was also isolated.
“We have tried our level best to ensure that the national team remains safe while in camp. It is always daunting to try and pin-point as to where and when the infection happened. Every measure is taken to ensure the safety of everyone in the camp,” Team Doctor Tshepo Molobi said in the statement.
Next matches
Dr. Molobi added that all other tests for players and staff have returned negative results and it will only be Phete and Kutumela who will not be travelling with the team when they depart later on Wednesday.
The next round of Covid-19 tests will be done on arrival in Zimbabwe on Wednesday night.
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