Team SA are beating a hasty retreat from the Region 5 Youth Games in Maseru in the face of a Covid-19 onslaught.

“This comes after an increase in the number of positive Covid-19 cases at the Games,” the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) said on Tuesday night.

“Team SA have also had athletes who have tested positive for the virus. Team SA’s Covid-19 protocols have all worked well and the cases have been well contained and limited.”

The nine-day showpiece in Lesotho started on Friday and was scheduled to run until Sunday.

“After a thorough assessment of the situation, including consultation where required, the team management have decided to return the squad to SA.

“The safety of our athletes is of paramount importance and we don’t want to run the risk of having more athletes becoming affected.”

Meanwhile, most of SA’s swimming team has abandoned hope of getting to Abu Dhabi for the world short course championships which kick off next Thursday.

Overseas-based Chad Le Clos and Brad Tandy, who are able to avoid the 10-day quarantine placed on people travelling from SA, are expected to compete there.