If the CSM Ştiinţa Baia Mare team, the Romanian champion, managed to get well in the country, two other European teams that participated in matches in South Africa, the Irish from Munster and the Welsh from Cardiff, are still stuck in the African state, with coronavirus-infected players. In the case of Cardiff, with two infected, panic attacks were recorded among the team, given that the Welsh authorities do not want to repatriate them. Munster also has a difficult situation, in the delegation of which ten people were tested positive, informs News.ro.
The Irish team Munster is currently isolated in Cape Town, having traveled to South Africa for two stages of the United Rugby Championship, before the African country was recently placed on the red list for travel.
An increase in positive cases with the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus forced Munster, Cardiff, Scarlets and Zebras to leave in a hurry last weekend, before the new quarantine measures come into force.
However, Munster and Cardiff were prevented from leaving on Sunday after having positive cases of Covid-19 (one and two respectively in their teams), while Scarlets and Zebre managed to return to Europe.
On Tuesday, Munster announced nine more cases in the group, which means that ten of the 48 people in the delegation (34 players and 14 staff members) are now in strict isolation.
“The latest series of PCR tests in the Munster delegation identified nine positive cases. The group will move to the designated quarantine hotel in Cape Town, joining the first player to test positive on Sunday. The other group of 38 negative results and continues to be isolated individually in their rooms since Sunday evening, as the Irish government pointed out on Monday, those who received negative results are allowed to travel from the southern authorities. “African,” the Irish club was quoted as saying by The Mirror.
The player who tested positive on Saturday was isolated in a separate hotel in Cape Town, where he will now be joined by the nine new positive members of the delegation.
Recent developments have thrown the Munster campaign into chaos, all returning players will be forced into a 10-day quarantine in Ireland.
This calls into question the upcoming matches in the Champions Cup, away at Wasps on December 12, and at home, against Castres (December 18), given that the players will be unable to prepare, even if they will be available in time.
Cardiff’s players are in a strict isolation on Sunday, unable to leave their rooms and without any certainty about the date when they will be able to go home, waiting for medical authorization. This increases players’ concern about their fate.
“We have reports of people having panic attacks, we have reports of anxiety and mental health problems. We need to put the WRU mental health officer in constant contact with them,” a Welsh club source said. for welsonline.co.uk.
The main group of the 48-person delegation is in a hotel in Cape Town. The two tested positive are in another, where they are forced to stay in isolation for 14 days.
Before the “negative” side of the group can leave South Africa, there must be criteria for quarantine flights and hotels and they must have negative PCR tests.
Welsh Health Minister Eluned Morgan was questioned about the situation at a news conference on Tuesday and was in no hurry to repatriate his compatriots.
“Our main responsibility is to keep the people of Wales safe. There are rules to make sure this happens. These rules are things that everyone has to follow and there are no exceptions to that. We are very aware of The situation at Cardiff Rugby Club They will have to isolate themselves on their return There are no places in Wales where they can be accommodated because we do not have those hotels in Wales There is a very clear reason for this international airport that generally brings people from the red-list countries or from countries with the potential to enter the red-list. Most of our passengers land in England. from an airport to a hotel in Wales, it is also very difficult for us to talk and find a hotel in Wales that would be willing to turn into a Covid hotel, because it means they can’t accommodate anyone else, and obviously it’s a pretty big problem right before Christmas, when they could have a lot of reservations. We are paying attention to the evolution of the situation and we are very interested in bringing our boys home. But they will have to come home in the same way that everyone else in this country would be expected to do, “she said.
Cardiff head of marketing and communications Mike Brown, who is with the team in South Africa, said he was shocked by Morgan’s comments.
“As a person caught in the middle of this situation, I was amazed at the lack of empathy and support from the Minister of Health. Everyone expects us to be quarantined on our return, but help us get home,” he wrote on Twitter.
Participating in a training tournament, the CSM Ştiinţa Baia Mare team was stranded in South Africa after the airline that was supposed to transport them to Europe canceled all flights, following concerns about the new Omicron strain of coronavirus, discovered in the African state.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Boeing 737 aircraft of the Tarom company that left for South Africa to repatriate the Romanian citizens stranded in this country, among which were the members of the delegation of the CSM Ştiinţa Baia Mare rugby team, landed at Base 90 in Otopeni.
