Premier League clubs send warning amid rising cases of Covid-19

The Premier League have written to clubs to remind them of their responsibilities over following strict coronavirus protocols to ensure football is not forced to stop once more.

Elite sport has been allowed to continue by the government during the third national lockdown, but concerns are growing at the Premier League that support from ministers could be lost should players and staff flout the guidelines laid out during Project Restart and cases continue to rise.

The Premier League met with Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, earlier this week before relaying his warnings to clubs, including the behaviour of players who breached government guidelines over the festive period.

The latest round of Premier League testing saw case numbers more than double to a record high of 40, with three games postponed in less than a week over the festive period after significant outbreaks at Fulham and Manchester City.

Despite the rise, the Premier League maintain that they have the utmost confidence in the protocols, but have warned clubs, their players and staff that guidelines must be adhered to.

Manchester City on Wednesday confirmed two more players and another member of staff have tested positive for Covid-19.

Goalkeeper Scott Carson and 18-year-old midfielder Cole Palmer are the latest players affected by the recent outbreak at the club and will now isolate.

City were without six other players for their Premier League victory at Chelsea last Sunday following positive tests.

A statement from the club read: “Manchester City FC can confirm that Scott Carson, Cole Palmer and one member of staff have tested positive for Covid-19.

“Both personnel will now observe a period of self-isolation in accordance with Premier League and UK Government protocol on quarantine.

“Everyone at the club wishes Scott, Cole and all of our other colleagues a speedy recovery ahead of their return to work, training and competition.”

With first-choice goalkeeper Ederson being one of the other players already isolating, news of Carson’s positive tests leaves City short of options in that position for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final against Manchester United.

Zack Steffen is set to play again after featuring at Chelsea with 18-year-old James Trafford, who has been involved in a Champions League squad this season, possibly coming onto the bench.

Ferran Torres, Tommy Doyle and Eric Garcia are the other players also currently isolating while Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus, who tested positive on Christmas Day, have now completed their quarantine.

Original protocols set out for Project Restart last season state that players must not shake the hands of team-mates or opponents, must try to maintain distance during goal celebrations and should restrict post-match interaction with opposition players and staff.

Data shows that there is a very small risk of the virus spreading between players during play, but with such guidelines being routinely overlooked at games every weekend, the chance greatly increases.

The League are also in discussions with clubs over tightening protocols concerning training grounds, travel to and from games and accommodation. Guidelines laid out in June said overnight stays in hotels should be “for essential use only,” but the majority of clubs have continued to stay as normal around away fixtures.

The Premier League has assured that matches will not be halted despite recording a new record 40 positive coronavirus cases over two rounds of testing in late December and early January.

The league announced its latest figures on Tuesday afternoon which showed that of 1,311 players and club staff tested between December 28 and 31, 28 came back positive for Covid-19.

In tests on 984 players and staff carried out between January 1 and 3 there were a further 12 positives, the league said.

It is understood the bulk of the positives relate to the three postponed fixtures over the period involving Manchester City and Fulham.

Manchester City’s match against Everton on December 28 was called off as a result of an outbreak at the Manchester club. Also, Fulham’s games against Tottenham and Burnley on December 30 and January 3 respectively have also had to be rescheduled.

It is understood the second round of testing featured a smaller group of players and staff than usual because it took place over a weekend, when some teams were involved in matches.