WELLINGTON: 01, DECEMBER, 2020: One more member of the Pakistan cricket team has tested positive for COVID-19, New Zealand's Ministry of Health said on Tuesday, taking the tally of infections within the touring party to eight. 

A day earlier, 42 members of Pakistan's national cricket squad in New Zealand have tested negative in the third round of coronavirus testing while the test reports of 3 members were being checked, an official of New Zealand health ministry said on Tuesday. 

Spokesperson of New Zealand health ministry said, "Day 6 swabs were taken yesterday from the 46 members  of the Pakistan cricket squad in Christchurch who to date have returned negative test results for Covid-19." 

"Of those, 42 have subsequently returned a further negative test result. Three are under investigation to determine whether they are historical cases, and one test result is pending," spokesperson added. 

According to media reports, the national squad has not yet been allowed to train in isolation. Training for the Pakistani squad is subject to the permission of the Canterbury DHB Medical Officer.

The New Zealand Health Authority has allowed former captain Sarfraz Ahmed and fast bowler Muhammad Abbas to rejoin the squad. It should be noted that the corona test of the players came positive. Medically, both members of the national squad have been declared non-infected. 

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials say the national squad will be allowed to train on the ground after the test results.

On November 23, National cricket team left for New Zealand from Lahore on Monday. According to the details, the national team arrived in New Zealand from Lahore via Dubai for the tour of New Zealand and reached Christchurch from Auckland, city of New Zealand.

According to the PCB, the national squad will complete its isolation period in Christchurch for 14 days. There will be three Covid-19 tests conducted during the quarantine period. Afterwards the squad will be allowed to move freely.

A 54-member teams (34 players and 20 officials) includes Pakistan's nationals and Shaheens side players and members of the sports staff. It is to be noted that the national cricket team will play three T20 and 2 Test matches against New Zealand which will continue from December 18 to January 7. 

The first T20 will be played on December 18 in Auckland, second T20 in Hamilton on December 20, while the last T20 of the series will be played in Napier on December 22. The two-match test series will also be played. The first test will be played in Mount Maunganui from December 26-30 and the second test in Christchurch from January 3-7.

Five openers have been included in the national cricket team for the tour of New Zealand. While 9 middle order batsmen, 3 wicket keepers, 5 spinners and 10 fast bowlers will also go.

The squad includes Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafiq, Imam-ul-Haq, Shaun Masood, Zeeshan Malik, Babar Azam, Azhar Ali, Danish Aziz, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Haris Sohail, Hussain Talat, Imran Butt, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdal Shah and Muhammad Hafeez. Sarfraz Ahmed, Rohail Nazir, Mohammad Rizwan, Emad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Yasir Shah, Zafar Ghauri, Emad Butt, Fahim Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Musa, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sohail Khan and Wahab Riyadh is also part of the team. (04)