UAE Team Emirates announced that despite the cancellation of the final two stages due to the coronavirus scare, the UAE tour players and staff will remain in the country as a precautionary measure.

More than 600 athletes, staff, race organizations, and media from the UAE Tour have been quarantined in an Abu Dhabi hotel since Thursday night after the Abu Dhabi Sports Council announced two suspected cases of the coronavirus Covid-19 among Italian staff from participating teams. They were quarantined at a hotel in Abu Dhabi since Thursday night. It was later revealed on Saturday that both patients tested negative for Covid-19.

PA reported on Sunday that the first 450 tests were negative and that many teams had already left Abu Dhabi, including Team Ineos, Jumbo-Visma, Bora-Hansgrohe, Movistar, and Israel Startup Nation.

While some teams headed to the airport, on Saturday evening it was reported that three teams, Cofidis, Groupama-FDJ, and Gazprom, were sequestered in a hotel in Abu Dhabi awaiting further inspection. José Elada of Cofidis expressed his frustration on Twitter on Sunday morning: "Some players are still being held in their rooms in Abu Dhabi. Other players were able to depart.

UAE Team Emirates said Sunday that all players and staff tested negative for covid 19 but will remain in the United Arab Emirates for the time being to reduce the risk of contagion.

"Despite being cleared to return home and the last test being negative, the team has decided to extend their stay in the United Arab Emirates and continue testing everyone's condition to ensure they are not contagious before returning home," a UAE Team Emirates statement read.

"Given the known cases of influenza within our group and other teams, we will conduct another round of tests in the coming days and the players and staff will return to their families once the situation has improved."

UAE Team Emirates confirmed that its decision to remain in Abu Dhabi was a voluntary precautionary measure and not imposed by the local authorities: "Until yesterday, we have followed the instructions of the relevant authorities and organizers, but today we decided to proceed autonomously and take our own measures.

Among the UAE Team Emirates players remaining in Abu Dhabi is Fernando Gaviria, who is aiming for success in Milan - San Remo this spring. Tadej Pogacar finished second overall in the shortened UAE Tour.

"Our team values the health of our athletes and staff more than the race results and is fully aware that extending their stay in isolation would hamper our sporting ambitions in light of upcoming events," a UAE Team Emirates statement said. It stated.