The English Premier League on Saturday reported zero COVID-19 positive cases in what turned out to be the best results of the league’s latest round of testing which began a few weeks earlier.
In the sixth round of tests, which were conducted on June 4 and June 5, samples from 1,195 players and staff were collected and all of the returned negative.
“The Premier League can today confirm that on Thursday 4 June and Friday 5 June, 1,195 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19. Of these, zero have tested positive,” the Premier League said in an official statement.
“The Premier League is providing this aggregated information for the purposes of competition integrity and transparency. No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided by the League and results will be made public after each round of testing.”
Previous test results
Round 1: 17-18 May – 748 tested, with six testing positive from three clubs.
Round 2: 19-22 May – 996 tested, with two testing positive from two clubs.
Round 3: 25-26 May – 1,008 tested, with four testing positive from two clubs.
Round 4: 28-29 May – 1,130 tested, with zero testing positive.
Round 5: 1-2 June – 1,197 tested, with one testing positive.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom government in the last week of May gave the Premier League the approval to resume the 2019-20 season on June 17 but asserted that all the health guidelines and social distancing measures be strongly adhered to.
The government, in fact, gave a green light to all forms of sports to restart from June 1 as the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published the ‘Stage Three’ guidance.
The revised list of fixtures were released earlier this week that will see Aston Villa and Sheffield United taking on each other in the first Premier League match after the COVID-19 lockdown on June 17. Later in the day, Manchester City and Arsenal will also face each other.