Both the Blues and Moana Pasifika squads are isolating in their hotel rooms, as a COVID-19 scare has hit the Super Rugby Pacific bubble in Queenstown.
On Wednesday night, a member of the Blues squad was identified as close contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19, seeing the player and his roommate isolating away from the team as a precaution.
The player in question is awaiting the results of a PCR test, on top of the twice-weekly rapid antigen tests (RAT), all six New Zealand sides must complete. The entire wider Blues squad are currently all isolating inside their hotel, in line with COVID-19 protocols until the player's test results return.
Elsewhere, Moana Pasifika has also had a COVID scare in their camp, with a wider squad member also deemed a close contact of a confirmed case.
However, that squad member did not travel with the team to Queenstown and is also awaiting a COVID test result, with the team also isolating as a precaution.
"We always knew that, given just how transmissible Omicron is and how quickly it has swept the globe, it was a distinct possibility our teams could be affected, despite our efforts to relocate teams and the heightened protocols within our environments," NZ Rugby's head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum says. "We are working with public health officials to ensure we are minimising any risk of infection within the Super Rugby bubble and within the local community."
All six New Zealand-based Super Rugby sides - the five traditional teams and newcomers Moana Pasifika - have relocated to Queenstown in order to play the early part of the 2022 season within a bubble.
Queenstown will host day games, while teams will travel to Dunedin to play at night, due to the lights on offer at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Coincidentally, the Blues and Moana Pasifika are scheduled to play the first match of the season on February 18.
