BREAKING NEWS: SIX Premier League players and staff at three clubs test positive for coronavirus and are forced to self-isolate for a week… but stars and clubs remain anonymous after 748 tests
- Six Premier League players and staff members recorded positive Covid-19 tests
- The first wave of testing was carried out around clubs over the past few days
- In total, 748 players and club staff were tested as part of Project Restart
- Those who tested positive must now go into self-isolation for seven days
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Six Premier League players and members of staff from three clubs have recorded positive coronavirus tests after the first wave were carried out within the top-flight this week.
The Covid-19 tests were conducted on Sunday and Monday and are due to take place twice a week from now on. Forty tests will be carried out at each club in each training session.
The results come from the tests of 19 Premier League clubs, with one club testing on Tuesday. Those results will be included in the data from the second round of testing, which is due to be published on Saturday.
Six Premier League players and staff members from three clubs have recorded positive Covid-19 tests
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson arrives at the club’s Melwood training base on Tuesday
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea waves as he arrives at Carrington on Tuesday
Virgil van Dijk was pictured driving in for his final solo session before a return to group training
It is believed that Manchester United are not one of the three Premier League clubs who have returned positive coronavirus tests.
A Premier League statement read: ‘The Premier League can today confirm that, on Sunday 17 May and Monday 18 May, 748 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19.
‘Of these, six have tested positive from three clubs. Players or club staff who have tested positive will now self-isolate for a period of seven days.’
Those results mean only 0.8 per cent of the tests carried out were positive in a boost to the Premier League’s plans to get up and running.
Premier League clubs are now permitted to conduct group training sessions involving all individuals who return a negative test.
Corner flags, balls, cones, goalposts, playing surfaces and other equipment will be disinfected after each session, while social distancing must be ‘strictly observed’ during these sessions.
A security guard patrols the entrance to Tottenham’s training ground wearing a face mask
Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium sits empty as the Premier League tries to get back to normal
Clubs are slowly returning back to business amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic
Premier League sides have now been making tentative steps towards resuming the season
The number of positive tests and number of clubs affected are being made public but the names of individuals and clubs will be kept private by the Premier League.
The Premier League has joined forces with the global health company that has been working with the Bundesliga to deliver testing.
The test itself involves a swab and a nasal sample that only goes around a centimetre up the nostril and is far less invasive than other tests that are used across the globe.
Clubs are now making tentative steps towards resuming the season. The return to training involves small groups of up to five players working together, while practising social distancing, with sessions to last no more than 75 minutes for any one player.
Premier League chief Richard Masters says the possibility of resuming on June 12 was only ever to be treated as a ‘staging post’
A man lifts a child up to he can look over a fence at Liverpool’s Melwood base on Tuesday
Liverpool are looking to seal the Premier League title if the Premier League eventually resumes
It comes after Premier League clubs unanimously agreed the protocols for small group training to resume on Monday and they will gather again on May 26 to discuss protocols for contact training.
June 12 has been mentioned as a resumption date, but the league’s chief executive Richard Masters has said that was only ever to be treated as a ‘staging post’.
Premier League clubs will be subjected to rigorous checks to ensure they are complying with training protocols, while the league has also committed to making every positive Covid-19 test public knowledge.