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Kolkata's landmark Eden Gardens cricket stadium is to be used as a quarantine centre for Indian Police who have the Coronavirus. AFP

With the city's hospitals under growing pressure, hundreds of beds are to be set up in the 80,000-capacity stadium that was used for the 1987 World Cup and 2016 T20 World Cup finals.

Nearly 550 Kolkata Police have tested positive for the coronavirus and two have died.

Explaining the move, Cricket Association of Bengal President Avishek Dalmiya told the AFP “it is our duty to help and support the administration in this hour of crisis.

“The quarantine facility will be used for police personnel who are COVID-19 warriors.”

The beds will be put in galleries around the seating and not on the pitch that was last used by India for a day-night Test against Bangladesh last November.

Dalmiya added “such areas would be thoroughly segregated as a safety measure.”

The venue is also used by Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders.

Image: Joker Durden, used under Wikimedia Commons licence.

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