The fear over the coronavirus pandemic has been growing by the day, but despite the warnings, several badminton players participated in the All England Badminton Championships in the United Kingdom last week. Indian badminton champions PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal were among them.

It has now been reported that a 10-year-old Taiwanese athlete who was present on the sidelines of the tournament tested positive for COVID-19. The girl was diagnosed with the virus on Friday and apparently used to take the bus with the Taiwanese national team. "No way ... really really shocked," Saina Nehwal had quoted the news on social media. Sports Minister Kiran Rijiju reportedly stated, "Sindhu called me and I told her that those who are playing outside in important tournaments like the Olympic qualifications can continue to play but they should follow guidelines of those respective countries. They should also take certain safety measures." It is yet to be known whether the players will be tested.

Across the world, COVID-19, has claimed the lives of more than 11400 people and infected over 276000 people. The virus was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, in China. As the death toll and overall cases began rising rapidly across the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency and the outbreak has now been labelled a pandemic.