England batsman Alex Hales on Tuesday said he has gone into self-isolation due to fever and persistent dry cough after returning midway from the now-postponed Pakistan Super League (PSL) but is yet to get himself tested for the dreaded COVID-19.
Hales's statement comes after Pakistan Super League, which he was a part of, was postponed with the Pakistan Cricket Board saying that a foreign player showed symptoms of coronovirus. Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raza went on claim that the player is Hales.
"Like many other overseas players, I reluctantly left the Pakistan Super League early because with COVID-19 reaching global pandemic status, I felt it was more important to be with my family rather than face a period of lockdown thousands of miles from home," Hales said in a statement after the PCB's comment.
"I returned to the UK in the early hours of Saturday morning feeling perfectly fit and healthy and with absolutely no symptoms of the virus," he added.
Hales plays for Karachi Kings in the PSL.
"However, I awoke early on Sunday morning having developed a fever and followed the governments advice of self-isolation, a process I am obviously still following having developed a dry and persistent cough.
"At this stage, it has not been possible to be tested although I am hopeful that might be the case later today so I can get absolute confirmation of my current health status," he added.
Pakistan's former Test captain Raja claimed that Hales might be the player being suspected. As a precautionary measure, all PSL players and broadcasters are now being tested for the virus.
"What I know is that he is yet to have tests but we don't know whether the symptoms he has is of Corona or not. But we all now need to be very cautious and obviously adopt a common sense approach to deal with this problem," Raja said.
The PSL had entered the knockout stages and semifinal matches were due to be played on Tuesday and final on Wednesday in Lahore. The PCB had also shortened the league by four days considering the worsening coronavirus situation before finally calling it off.
Fever and dry cough are among the symptoms for COVID-19, which has so far claimed more than 7,000 lives globally. Fever, dry cough and shortness of breath are some of the symptoms of the viral disease, which infected more than 1,70,000 people worldwide.
