Baseball club set to resume practice after ill coach tests negative for coronavirus

SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean baseball club NC Dinos will resume training Tuesday after an ill coach tested negative for the coronavirus.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club had to cancel practice the previous day when the coach showed a fever and was tested for COVID-19. The results came back negative Tuesday morning, and the Dinos, based in Changwon, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, will return to work later in the day.

The Dinos have had three disruptions to their practice since last month. Several other KBO teams have also been forced to halt their training for a day or two when their player or employee showed symptoms typically associated with COVID-19. They've all tested negative.

The coronavirus pandemic forced the KBO to delay the start of its regular season, which would have begun March 28 under normal circumstances. The league hopes to start playing exhibition games during the week of April 20, with the regular season to follow either in the final week of this month or the first week of May. But a recent surge in these disruptions isn't inspiring confidence in the KBO's chances of starting the season this month.

In a leaguewide effort to prevent the spread of the virus, KBO teams are currently limited to playing intrasquad scrimmages at their own parks, with no traveling permitted.

The coronavirus has forced the basketball and volleyball leagues to cancel their seasons before their completion. The men's and women's pro football seasons have yet to kick off, while pro golf tours also remain suspended.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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