Forty players and members of the technical bodies of Premier League teams tested positive for Covid-19 in the two waves of tests carried out since last week, as announced on Tuesday by the English football tournament, which indicated that the competition is continuing according to planned. That number is more than double the previous record of 18 cases, registered at the end of December.
In the first wave of last week, 28 positives were detected in 1,311 tests carried out and then 12 positives were added, in the 984 of the second wave. The news came a day after the announcement that England is returning to total lockdown to fight the spread of the new variant of the coronavirus on its territory.
Last week, three games had to be postponed due to cases of Covid-19, Everton-Manchester City, Tottenham-Fulham and Burnley-Fulham. Before that week, only one 2020-2021 Premier League match had to be postponed due to coronavirus, a Newcastle-Aston Villa in early December.
Despite the announcement of the 40 positives on Tuesday, the Premier League reaffirmed in a statement its “confidence in the protocols against Covid-19, fully supported by the government, to allow matches to be played as scheduled.”
The European football calendar leaves little room for maneuver in the event of an eventual interruption of the championships, as happened last spring in the old continent.
To the domestic competitions in England (Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup) are added the knockout rounds of the European tournaments (Champions League and Europa League), which start in February. All this in a year in which these tournaments should be finalized by May, taking into account that in June and July the European Championship is played, which had to be moved from 2020 to 2021 due to the pandemic.
Despite the lockdown of England announced Monday by the government to fight the pandemic, professional sports competitions are expected to continue.
The virus has caused more than 75,000 deaths in the United Kingdom, making it one of the most affected countries in Europe.
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