A TOTAL of 90 new positive cases for Covid-19 from 20 clubs have been reported by the English Premier League yesterday, over two times the previous highest weekly record, said Xinhua.

One week ago, the English top-flight football league confirmed that 3,805 players and club staff were tested for Covid-19 between December 6 and 12, among which 42 new positive cases were recorded.

The league has reverted to its emergency measures since then and has increased testing of players and club staff to daily Lateral Flow and twice-weekly PCR tests, having previously carried out Lateral Flow testing twice a week.

“The league can today confirm that between Monday (December 13) and Sunday (December 19), a record 12,345 Covid-19 tests were administered on players and club staff. Of these, there were 90 new positive cases,” read a statement released yesterday.

Several fixtures have been postponed as many clubs have been suffering from the outbreaks of Covid-19. But the Premier League insisted that they would “continue the current fixture schedule where safely possible” after the 20 clubs held a meeting yesterday.

The league also confirmed that 84% of the players have received at least one vaccination dose. – Bernama, December 21, 2021.