The Premier League has set off an emergency alarm once again. After seeing the number of Covid-19 cases drop week after week since August, the Premier League, which is responsible for organizing the tournament, began recording a strong increase in December, and in the past seven days, it has found 103 positive tests for the disease.
The largest growth occurred in the second semester between the 20th and 26th of this month. The organization has conducted 15,186 tests, of which 103 were positive. And in the previous week, 90 cases were confirmed out of 12,345 tests conducted. The jump is greater if compared to the previous two weeks, with 42 positive among 3,805 tests (6-12/12) and 12 positive among 3,154 exams (29/11 to 5/12).
The cases prompted the Premier League to resume emergency measures, which had already been abandoned in recent months, as the pandemic subsided in the UK. Among the planned actions is a larger number of tests. As of August, the Premier League has scored around 3,000 Tests per week. The number of positive results has been reduced to one digit.
In October, in the fourth to tenth week, only 1,696 tests were taken. No positive cases were detected. Between the weeks before and after this period, positive tests ranged from one to six, without significant risks to the clubs and the league itself.
But the situation changed in December. With Covid-19 outbreak affecting different teams at the same time, the Premier League has already had to postpone 15 English matches. For example, the traditional “Boxing Day” round saw a drop of three matches on Sunday.
One of the teams most affected is Watford. With many players sidelined by Covid-19, to test positive or to come in contact with an infected person, the club has had to search for athletes in the under-23 team even to conduct first-team training for most of this month.
The Premier League said in a statement: “The League continues to work with clubs to keep people safe, helping to mitigate the risks of Covid-19 to their teams. Adapt quickly to any future changes to national or local guidelines.”
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