Anisur Rahman

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, a persistent fear has been that of false negatives -- cases of those infected with the transmissible virus testing negative and being allowed to carry on with their regular lives, risking further infection. That fear was fuelled by the very public development of 15 out of 24 national footballers and a coach testing positive for coronavirus in their second test within three to four days of testing negative in the first.

Two other footballers had failed to take the coronavirus test before reporting to the team management on August 6 for the national camp, and they too tested positive for the virus.

Around 9:00pm yesterday, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) announced the latest batch of eight footballers – Md Faisal Ahmed Fahim, Md Manik Hossain Molla, Monjurur Rahman Manik, Md Abdullah, Yeasin Arafat, Biplob Ahmed, Mahbubur Rahman -- and coach Md Masud Parvez Kaisar testing positive. All had tested negative before reporting for the camp on August 5.

The infected footballers had tested negative in various private and government hospitals around the country two to three days before reporting for the camp, as part of the BFF’s guidelines. They were then made to undergo a second test under the BFF’s supervision at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) on Wednesday and Thursday.

The test reversals have also upended the planned preparations for the national team for the Joint Qualifiers of Qatar World Cup and China Asian Cup. Till Thursday, only 15 footballers out of 24 checked in at Sarah Resorts in Gazipur for residential training but all of them are now under close observation for any symptoms of coronavirus.