A seventh Pakistani cricketer tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday as team remains isolated in their Christchurch hotel, with doubts growing over their New Zealand tour. 

The team arrived in New Zealand on Tuesday and are on a “final warning” for breaching coronavirus restrictions as the growing number of cases puts pressure on their preparations for the December 18 T20I opener. 

All members of the Pakistan squad tested negative prior to departure for New Zealand, although six turned up positive after testing on on Thursday.

“One additional member of the Pakistan cricket squad has today tested positive,” a statement from the Ministry of Health said.

“The remainder of the results from the squad’s day-three swab testing, apart from the six who have already returned a positive result, are negative.”

The 53-man squad will undergo further tests on Monday. They are currently confined to their rooms and have been denied permission to train by New Zealand authorities. 

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Exemptions allowing teams to train while in managed isolation “are very difficult to obtain”, the ministry said, adding that Pakistan’s exemption was deferred after a number of players were caught neglecting the coronavirus protocols in the quarantine hotel. 

On Thursday, New Zealand’s director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said that the breaches in protocol have been taken very seriously and that the Pakistan team “as a whole has been issued with a final warning”.