Photo: Xinhua

The Chinese Ice Hockey Association announced on Sunday that two athletes on the country's national women's ice hockey team have been confirmed with COVID-19 and displayed mild symptoms, after their training trip to the US.

The national team of 11 were training in the US and preparing for the Ice Hockey World Championships to be held in Poland in the second half of March which was later cancelled. The team also participated in a US local challenge game from February 14 to 18, before they took a flight back to Beijing on March 13 and underwent a 14-day quarantine since, according to a notice published on the association's website.

The reasoning behind their return to Beijing was due to the cancellation of the international tournament and the "worsening epidemic situation in the US," it said

The team tested within normal limits upon entry to Beijing and were immediately asked to take quarantine for medical observation and by the end of their isolation, the two tested positive in nucleic acid tests, and then were confirmed with the infection.

The two cases are now under treatment in a chartered hospital, and the rest of the team will undergo further quarantine.

Previously, Spain-based Chinese international football player Wu Lei was also confirmed as infected.

In addition, three athletes on the men's national fencing team were also reportedly infected by the novel coronavirus after taking part in the world cup games in Hungary in March. 

 Global Times