LONDON – The English Premier League said it had found 94 new positive Covid-19 cases among players and staff in the last week, the first week-by-week decrease in positive results for eight weeks.
“(We) can confirm that between December 27, 2021 and January 2, 2022, 14,250 Covid-19 tests were administered on players and club staff. Of these, there were 94 new positive cases (0.65 per cent),” the league said in a statement. Eighteen games have been postponed since last month with clubs being unable to field teams due to positive cases and injuries.
The figure had been steadily rising in recent weeks with 90 testing positive between Dec. 13-19 and a record 103 cases between Dec. 20-26, Reuters reported.
Eighteen games have been postponed since last month due to Covid-19 outbreaks and injuries at various clubs, while teams have often been forced to field weakened lineups.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp as well as Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Joel Matip from the playing squad missed the 2-2 draw at Chelsea on Sunday after returning positive tests.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte told reporters Monday that they were “monitoring” a couple of possible new Covid-19 cases at the club.
“We are checking a couple of situations, we’ll see. We didn’t do this (name them) in the past and we will continue to do this in the same way. We are not 100 per cent sure they will miss the game,” Conte said ahead of the Wednesday’s League Cup semi-final first-leg away to Chelsea.
