7 players, coach from Perlas club contract COVID-19 ahead of PVL season

Seven players and one coach from the Perlas Spikers club have tested positive for the COVID-19 with a few weeks left before the eyed opening of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL).

PVL tournament director and PNVF national teams commission chairman Tony Boy Liao confirmed the news, saying the players contracted the virus while at their training camp in Baguio.

He added that the patients are now in isolation from the rest of the team and will undergo RT-PCR test on July 6 along with all the members.

"Yes, that’s true," Liao said in a message when asked by GMA News Online whether the reports on the positive cases were true.

"Right now the 8 players are isolated from the team. They will come out of isolation on July 6, all of the Perlas team will go for the RT - PCR test."

The PVL is eyeing to open its inaugural professional season on July 17 pending the approval of the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) and barring any complication.

Perlas Spikers are among the 11 teams expected to see action this season with Creamline still the heavy favorite while Choco Mucho, Petro Gazz, Philippine Army, and BaliPure are also tipped to join the tournament.

Chery Tiggo, Cignal, F2 Logistics, PLDT, and Sta. Lucia are also set for their professional debuts after jumping ship to PVL from the Philippine Superliga (PSL).

Meanwhile, Liao added that Perlas' training camp has been temporarily shut down owing to the guidelines implemented by GAB.

They, however, can still enter the PVL bubble in Laoag, Ilocos Norte provided they test negative from the virus.

Perlas also released a statement to explain why they chose Baguio as a training camp and to also set some things straight.

"Our training camp began on the 30th of May with a team of excited and joyful athletes, and determined coaches, as we look forward to the day we finally get to play again the sport we were prevented from participating on due to the worldwide pandemic," the club said.

Team captain Jem Ferrer stressed they did not violate guidelines set up by the team and the local government.

"In light of all the misinformation circulating in social media and the news about my team’s situation here in Baguio I would like to clarify the following: We are not billeted in Teacher’s Camp. The only places that we go to apart from our accommodation are our court training venue and our gym training," she said.

"And with regard to the news that we snuck out of Teacher’s Camp that is 1,000% not true because number 1, we are not staying there, and number 2, in our accommodation there is a CCTV that monitors us 24/7."

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News