Ten members of the delegation of Venezuela who will participate in the America Cup soccer players, including five players, tested positive for coronavirus in the first mandatory clinical test they were subjected to when they arrived at Brazil, reported this Saturday official sources.
The Secretary of Health of the Federal District of Brasilia, Osnei Okumoto, confirmed this Saturday to journalists that the results of the PCR-RT to which the members of the Venezuelan team were subjected yielded a positive result for ten people, who were again evaluated with the same test this Saturday.
Before the trip, midfielder Tomás Rincón, from the Italian Torino and one of the most important players of the vinotinto squad, presented a “physical discomfort”, with a “probable viral picture”, although the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) did not report if It was about coronavirus.
Okumoto indicated that the ten infected from the Venezuelan national team are “isolated” in an area separate from the rest of the team in the hotel they occupy, almost exclusively, in Brasilia and a team of health prosecutors has already carried out the tracking since Friday night. on with whom the infected had contact.
The tests were carried out by the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) and the result was delivered to those responsible for the delegation on Friday night in Brasilia, although Okumoto indicated that they were probably infected in Venezuela before embarking for Brazil.
The names of those infected were not disclosed, but Conmebol announced that as a result of this situation and others that may occur in the rest of the teams, the clause of limiting a maximum of five changes in the player registration list was repealed, which is now open and unlimited during the tournament.
Venezuela and Brazil will open on Sunday at the Mané Garrincha stadium in Brasilia, in a match for Group B, the current edition of the oldest national team tournament in the world, which ended up in the South American giant after Colombia, due to public order problems, and Argentina, due to the pandemic, desist from it.
The acceptance of hosting the tournament by Brazil unleashed a wave of criticism of the Government of the president, Jair Bolsonaro, for receiving the competition in the midst of a still uncontrolled situation of the covid-19 pandemic, which in fifteen months accumulates almost 17.3 million confirmed cases and 485,000 deaths.