Six members of the Flying Fijians November Tests entourage – comprising players and officials – have tested positive for COVID-19 and have been placed in isolation, the Fiji Rugby Union confirms.
In a statement, the FRU said the six returned positive results in the first round of tests but did not say how many are officials and how many are players, but it is understood that at least three are players, all of whom are based in France.
All six have been placed in isolation – the three French-based players at their respective homes and the other three, at the Flying Fijians’ base camp in the city of Limoges, also in France.
Team officials will await another round of testing, as per COVID 19 compliance requirement. In the meantime, they are being monitored daily by medics. For safety reasons, FRU Chief Executive John O’Connor said the six will undergo two tests per week in the lead up to their Autumn Nations Cup.
All overseas-based players who were released to their respective clubs over the weekend will also be tested. They will need to return two negative results before they can be allowed to re-join the squad.
“Once they join the camp, they will be in isolation and join the group only when they have tested negative again,” he said.
“We are grateful that we travelled and started our preparation camp early so we could go through these protocols and follow required strict compliance requirements to ensure the entire team is cleared and we prepare well before our first match.”
In their Autumn Nations Cup draw, the Flying Fijians are scheduled to play France on 15 November, Italy on 21 November and Scotland seven days later on 29 November at BT Murrayfield.
The team was also scheduled to play Portugal in a warm-up match on 6 November, but that is in doubt as a result of the COVID-19 positive tests.
