Health Ministry's COVID-19 advisory leaves Indian badminton stars in dark

In the wake of Health Ministry's new advisory related to COVID-19, Indian badminton stars such as Parupalli Kashyap, Saina Nehwal have been put under dark and are left searching for answers.

Both Nehwal and Kashyap have been knocked out from the ongoing All England Championships. But their return to India now hangs in the balance.

Searching for answers, Kashyap tweeted: "Sir @drharshvardhan we are in Birmingham for a tournament and we are not sure about our situation considering the health advisory issued yesterday. Can we please speak to you urgently? .@NSaina @srikidambi @pranaav6 @sikkireddy".

The Health Ministry on Wednesday issued a new advisory related to COVID-19, saying "All incoming travelers, including Indians, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain & Germany after 15th February 2020 shall be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days".

These badminton stars took part in the Barcelona Open in February this year, and now their return to India has come under a cloud.

If the health ministry's advisory is put in place, Nehwal and Kashyap will be quarantined for two weeks and this will result in a severe blow to their Olympics hopes.

World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday had declared the coronavirus outbreak a 'pandemic' and expressed deep concern.

Coronavirus, which originated in the Wuhan city of China, has so far spread to more than 90 countries infecting over 1,10,000 people.