Striker Mandeep Singh Becomes Sixth Indian Men's Team Hockey Player To Test Covid-19 Positive

Mandeep became the sixth Indian hockey player to Test Covid-19 positive as skipper Manpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Jaskaran Singh, Varun Kumar and Krishan Pathak had earlier contracted the virus infection and were diagnosed as COVID-19 positive upon arrival at the Sports Authority of India Centre Of Excellence for the hockey national camp which began on August 4.

The Covid-19 attack on the Indian men's hockey team seems relentless as striker Mandeep Singh become the latest member of the 'Blue Shirts' to test positive for the novel coronavirus. The saving grace coming out of this rather negative development is that the hockey player is asymptomatic. "Mandeep Singh, a member of the Indian men's hockey team, who was given the COVID-19 test (RT PCR) along with 20 other players at the National Camp at SAI's National Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, has tested COVID-19 positive, but is asymptomatic," Sports Authority of India (SAI) said in a statement on Monday. "He is being administered treatment by doctors, along with the other five players who have tested positive," it added. Mandeep became the sixth Indian hockey player to Test Covid-19 positive as skipper Manpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Jaskaran Singh, Varun Kumar and Krishan Pathak had earlier contracted the virus infection and were diagnosed as COVID-19 positive upon arrival at the Sports Authority of India Centre Of Excellence for the hockey national camp which began on August 4. Coach Graham Reid had however said that all the five tested players were doing fine. "I am constantly in touch with all five of them and they are doing fine. SAI has made every arrangement to give them the best care. The chefs are making special dishes for them as per their choice, beyond the mess menu, and the athletes are very happy about it," Reid said. The five hockey players who were housed in NCOE Bengaluru after testing Covid positive on August 7, are showing signs of recovery and doing well. They are being attended to by SAI’s in-house doctor as well as one doctor from the state government, who has been deputed on SAI's request. To ensure that the five athletes have 24-hours access to the SAI authorities on campus, two SAI officers have been earmarked to exclusively monitor the athletes and cater to their requirements.