The English Premier League (EPL) plans to enforce the league schedule despite the spread of COVID-19 in the league.
The EPL Secretariat issued a statement saying, "Although many clubs are experiencing difficulties due to the outbreak of COVID-19, it was confirmed through the Premier League club meeting today (21st) that it is the league's common opinion to continue the current game schedule as safely as possible. "He said.
The EPL has recently postponed 10 games, including 6 games over the weekend, due to a large number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the league.
As the spread continues, some voices have demanded the suspension of the league, but the clubs have reached an agreement on the day of the meeting to proceed with the league as scheduled.
The EPL Secretariat said, "The health and well-being of all stakeholders is our top priority. We will continue to monitor and reflect public health guidelines to advance the league." A variety of issues were discussed, including
Then, he confirmed that "84% of the players and 92% of the players, including the club staff, have been vaccinated at least once," and emphasized that vaccination is encouraged.
However, according to the statement followed by the EPL, 90 new confirmed cases were found in the Corona 19 test conducted on the players and staff of each club from the 13th to the 19th of this month.
This is the highest record for a week, which is more than double the number of confirmed cases (42) that appeared on the 6th and 12th.
EPL, which previously performed tests twice a week, explained that last week, the number of tests was increased, such as daily lateral flow tests and PCR (gene amplification) tests twice a week.
As a result, the number of tests, which was around 3,000, increased to 12,345 from the 13th to the 19th, and more confirmed cases were confirmed.
Meanwhile, the England Football Association (FA) decided to decide the match through extra time and penalty shoot-outs rather than replays in the event of a draw in the 3rd and 4th rounds of the FA Cup in order to cope with the uncertainty caused by the spread of Corona 19.