IPL 2021: Vaccinated officials, staff also asked to carry COVID-19 negative reports for Wankhede games

Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) officials have been asked to carry a negative Covid-19 report to attend Indian Premier League (IPL) matches at the Wankhede Stadium. Even vaccinated officials and staff members have been asked to carry a Covid-19 negative report.

In a letter accessed by ANI, MCA secretary Sanjay Naik has written to all MCA apex council members to produce a negative Covid-19 report for entry inside the Wankhede Stadium. "As per BCCI's protocol, all the officials who would be attending the IPL 2021 matches at Wankhede Stadium are required to produce a negative report of RT-PCR test conducted within 48 hours of the match day," Naik wrote in his letter.

"The tests are mandatory even for those who have been vaccinated. The report will have to be produced at the time of entry to the stadium on each match day. Hence you are requested to get yourself tested at your end and carry the negative report to the stadium on match day," he added. Wankhede Stadium is set to host 10 IPL games this season from April 10-25. The first match at the Mumbai stadium is slated to be played later on Saturday between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings.

Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state due to Covid-19. On Friday, the state of Maharashtra recorded 58,993 new COVID-19 cases, 45,391 recoveries, and 301 deaths. Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 tally hit a record daily high since the outbreak of the pandemic with over 1.45 lakh new infections being reported in a span of 24 hours, taking the cumulative count to 1,32,05,926, according to the Union Health Ministry.

Last week, several members of the Wankhede groundstaff returned with positive Covid-19 reports. On Sunday, the Maharashtra government announced a weekend lockdown from Friday 8 pm to Monday 7 am to curb the spread of Covid-19.