LONDON: Six positive cases for coronavirus have been detected at three Premier League clubs after players and staff were tested ahead of a return to training, England’s top flight said Tuesday.
“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,” the league said in a statement.
“Of these, six have tested positive from three clubs.”
No details were released over which individuals or clubs are affected.
“Players or club staff who have tested positive will now self-isolate for a period of seven days,” added the league’s statement.
Brighton have previously confirmed three positive cases among their squad at different stages of the pandemic, while positive tests for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi played a major role in the decision to suspend matches on March 13.
Premier League clubs began returning to training in small groups on Tuesday after protocols on safety measures were signed off on Monday.
The number of positive cases represents just 0.8 percent of those tested and is consistent with similar widespread testing conducted by other major leagues hoping to complete the season.
Germany’s top two divisions registered 10 positive cases out of 1,724 tests two weeks ago ahead of their return to action last weekend.
Five players from Spain’s top two divisions tested positive last week before La Liga’s return to group training.
Premier League clubs are aiming for a return to action by the middle of next month, but face resistence from players concerns over their welfare.
Watford captain Troy Deeney has said he will not return to training this week due to fears he could pass the virus on to his five-month-old son.
“I can’t get a haircut until mid-July, but I can go and get in a box with 19 people and jump for a header,” said Deeney on the Talk The Talk podcast.
“I don’t know how that works. No one could answer the questions, not because they didn’t want to, but because they don’t know the information.”
Newcastle left-back Danny Rose claimed players were being treated like “guinea pigs or lab rats.”
Rose’s manager Steve Bruce said the majority of his players are in favor of a return to training and praised “meticulous” planning on behalf of the Premier League to make the environment as safe as possible.
However, Bruce has also questioned the limited preparation time players could have between returning to contact training and competitive matches, warning his squad could “fall down like a pack of cards” with injuries.
Six positive tests for coronavirus at Premier League clubs as restart is considered
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Six positive tests for coronavirus at Premier League clubs as restart is considered
- 748 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19
Russell, Antonelli lead Mercedes in one-two qualifying positions for F1’s Australian GP
- Russell topped all three sessions in F1’s knockout qualifying format, finally casting aside questions of where Mercedes team was in the new-era pecking order
MELBOURNE: Mercedes has revealed its dominant hand during qualifying for Sunday’s Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
George Russell earned his ninth-career pole position Saturday ahead of his teammate Kimi Antonelli for the team’s 83rd front-row lockout and its first since the 2024 British Grand Prix.
Russell topped all three sessions in F1’s knockout qualifying format, finally casting aside questions of where Mercedes team was in the new-era pecking order. His pole time, at 1 minute, 18.518 seconds, was almost eight-tenths faster than the nearest non-Mercedes challenger, Red Bull rookie Isack Hadjar, who completed the top three.
“It was a great day, we knew there was a lot of potential in the car, but until we get to this first Saturday of the season, you never know,” Russell said. “But it really came alive this afternoon, especially when the track temperatures cooled, we know we tend to favor those conditions.”
Antonelli was relieved to have made it onto the front row alongside his teammate after a crash in final practice at the exit of turn two meant it was a race in the Mercedes garage to get him out for qualifying.
“It’s been a very stressful day. Unfortunately, I went into the wall (in FP3),” he said. “But the guys (in the garage) were the heroes today to put the car back on track.”
Hadjar was impressive by qualifying third on debut for Red Bull, his highest-ever grid position.
“The only thing I can do is take them at the start, but they’re just too fast at the moment,” Hadjar said of Mercedes. “I want to keep my position and a second podium would be cool.”
Ferrari showed it’s neck-and-neck with McLaren on pace, with just one and a half tenths seconds covering the four drivers just beyond the top-three — with Charles Leclerc qualifying fourth, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in fifth and sixth respectively, and Lewis Hamilton in seventh.
Racing Bulls showed they’ve taken a step forward over the winter, with New Zealander Liam Lawson eighth ahead of his highly-rated rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad.
The big surprise of the session came from four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen, who triggered red flags at Melbourne’s Albert Park after he lost control of his Red Bull car in braking for turn one in the first half of Q1 and ended in the barriers.
The Dutchman, who was unhurt from the crash, though upset that his brakes locked up, will now start from the back of the grid.
F1 heads into a new era this year, with unprecedented changes across the chassis (car) and power unit, which now feature an almost 50:50 output split between the turbo 1.6-liter V6 engine and electrical energy harvested from the brakes, one that requires a new, often counterintuitive driving style from the drivers.
