A South Korean baseball player who exhibited fever earlier in the week has tested negative for the novel coronavirus.

The Lotte Giants said Friday their catcher Jeong Bo-keun took a test for COVID-19 the previous day after showing fever, and the result came back negative 24 hours later.

Jeong was immediately dropped from the active roster on Thursday. The Giants said Jeong also had diarrhea and showed symptoms commonly associated with enteritis, but because he also had a fever, they didn't want to take any chances.

The coronavirus pandemic pushed the start of the 2020 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season from March 28 to May 5.

No player has tested positive so far.

The Giants arrived in Seoul on Friday to take on the LG Twins for a three-game series at Jamsil Baseball Stadium. They're in the midst of a season-high six-game winning streak. (Yonhap)