The Patiala Health Department on Saturday banned the entry of outsiders inside the National Institute of Sports (NIS) due to the rising cases of COVID-19 across the country. India`s elite athletes including the Olympic-bound ones train at Patiala and their functional area is already in the "Green Zone" and out of bounds for anyone residing outside the campus.

"Yes, outsider entry has been banned. We have been informed about it," a source privy to the development told PTI on conditions of anonymity. Earlier on Friday, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) announced a three-week "summer vacation" at its National Centres of Excellence (NCOE) owing to the relentless spike in COVID-19 cases but said that the Olympic-bound will continue to train at their ongoing camps India has been reporting over 1 lakh cases for the past few days. "In view of the rising cases of COVID-19 across India and keeping the health and safety of athletes in mind, the Sports Authority of India has taken the decision to allow summer vacations across all National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs) for a period of three weeks," SAI had stated.