Inside The UAE Tour Coronavirus Lockdown

Sophie Smith reports from her quarantined hotel in Abu Dhabi

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I left my hotel room for the lobby in the middle of the night — no make-up, hair a mess and panicked.

I’d woken at 2 am on Friday to a WhatsApp group buzzing with news of two positive tests for coronavirus at the UAE Tour where I was working.

In the elevator I scanned issued statements; two people at the race had tested positive for coronavirus and the remaining two stages had been cancelled.

Hours earlier we’d left Dubai, via stage five, for hotels in Abu Dhabi. At 10 pm on Thursday, an email to media advised us, at the request of local authorities, not leave the hotel “under any circumstances”.

I turned the light off in my room and went to bed, sure it wasn’t serious. It was.

The Abu Dhabi Sports Council, at 1.30 am on Friday, had issued a statement saying the UAE Tour had been cancelled with two stages remaining due to two “confirmed” coronavirus cases.

Just before 3 am, race organizers released their own statement, further clarifying that two Italian team staff members from one squad had tested positive.