Premier League Confirm 9 New COVID-19 Cases
By Tom Gott
The Premier League have confirmed that the latest round of COVID-19 testing has discovered nine new cases.
As the UK enters a second wave of COVID-19, the number of cases in the Premier League has risen with the curve, with players and staff both contracting the virus.
"The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday 28 September and Sunday 4 October, 1,587 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19," a statement on the league's official website began. "Of these, there were nine new positive tests.
"Players or club staff who have tested positive will self-isolate for a period of ten 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 after each round of testing."
Arsenal's new number 18! ? pic.twitter.com/uDYIW156H3
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The latest results represent a slight decrease from the previous round of testing, which discovered ten cases in 1,595 tests. However, it's a noticeable jump from the three or four cases which were being discovered weekly before the season resumed.
West Ham United were hit fairly hard in the previous round, losing players Issa Diop and Josh Cullen as well as manager David Moyes after the trio tested positive, and despite their required isolation period coming to a close, Moyes is yet to return to work.
He confirmed in a statement on the Hammers' website that he is feeling 'generally fine', but after continuing to show some mild symptoms, a mutual decision has been made to keep the boss away from the club bubble for the time being.
"I’ve been in constant contact with Alan [Irvine] and the coaches, and we’ve been able to stick to our normal training schedules," he added.
"I can’t say it’s been easy, frustrating in fact not being there in person – my job has always been so important to lead from the front but I’ve had to get used to delivering that in new and different ways, such as video calls and meetings, although Stuart Pearce and I have enjoyed sticking to the old fashioned way of speaking on the phone during matchdays!"