Premier League confirm 36 new coronavirus cases after latest round of testing
The Premier League has confirmed 36 new cases of COVID-19 among players and staff after two rounds of testing between Monday 4 January and Sunday 10 January.
There has been a sharp rises in cases in recent weeks as the new strain of the virus continues to spread across the country and the last update revealed that 40 new cases had been found between 28 December and 3 January.
The latest update confirmed a slightly reduced number after more than 2,500 players across all 20 clubs were tested over the last week.
36 positive Covid tests across two rounds of testing from 2,593 @premierleague players and club staff 4-10 Jan inc. Breakdown: 4-7 Jan, 27 positives from 1,538 players and club staff. 8-10 Jan, 9 positives from 1,055 players and club staff tested. Down from previous week's 40.
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) January 11, 2021
A league statement reads: "The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday 4 January and Sunday 10 January, across two rounds of testing, 2,593 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19.
"Of these, there were 36 new positive tests. Players or club staff who have tested positive will self-isolate for a period of 10 days.
"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 on a weekly basis."
The news comes after the league cracked down on players and staff who had breached regulations over the Christmas period. An email sent to Premier League clubs after the new year tightened guidelines with immediate effect, and included a ban on shirt swapping and warnings against shaking hands and hugging.
The email read: "It is vital to ensure public, government and stakeholder confidence in the training and matchday protocols that individual transgressions by relevant persons are appropriately investigated and sanctioned by clubs.
“Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action by the league individually against the relevant person, where appropriate (for example, where his or her conduct brings the league into disrepute) and/or against the club (where the relevant person’s conduct constitutes a breach of the training protocol).”
The next coronavirus update is expected on Monday 18 January.