Premier League: Latest coronavirus testing results show zero positives
Premier League season to be completed on Sunday; Spanish second division game postponed after positive cases in Fuenlabrada squad
Monday 20 July 2020 20:48, UK
The Premier League has confirmed there were zero positive results from 2,208 players and club staff in the latest round of coronavirus testing.
The tests were carried out between Monday July 13 and Sunday July 19.
This is the fourth time a round of testing has produced no positive results.
It means there have been 20 positive results out of 20,559 tests overall since the operation began as part of the Premier League's Project Restart.
This is the final round of test results to be published before the end of the Premier League season on Sunday.
Clubs will continue to test players and staff this week, with further results expected to be announced next Monday.
A Premier League statement said: "The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday July 13 and Sunday July 19, 2,208 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19. Of these, zero have tested positive.
"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."
Testing success in dark times
By Bryan Swanson, chief reporter, Sky Sports News
This is another welcome round of results as the Premier League season reaches its conclusion in sterile stadia on Sunday.
It is the fourth round of testing to produce zero positive results and, in the wider context, there have been just 20 positives from a total of 20,559 tests.
It is clear, since testing was introduced in May, that coronavirus has not been widespread in clubs.
Amid a wider backdrop of daily deaths, and a localised lockdown in Leicester, players and staff have remained vigilant, with a few notable exceptions.
The question now is what happens at the end of the season.
Arsenal and Chelsea will be tested using existing Premier League protocols before their FA Cup Final on August 1.
UEFA has yet to reveal its testing procedures for Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Wolves and Rangers in their remaining Champions League and Europa League ties in August.
The Football Association has yet to confirm its protocols next season, including the FA Cup, following a report in The Times that it is preparing to review and scale down tests from next month.
FA tests do not include the Premier League and EFL, who are likely to hold further talks at their AGMs in August over future funding.
Testing is not cheap - the Premier League paid Prenetics around £4 million to carry out tests twice a week and gave £1 million to support the Women's Super League - but it has given players and staff some much-needed assurances over their health and safety.
It has created a culture of calm over competing in a bio-secure environment.
What happens next season will be led by government guidelines and, at some stage, the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine.
There is also the aim that supporters will return to grounds, in a phased process, which has raised further questions about testing.
45,312 people have died in the UK, across all settings, according to the Department of Health and Social Care on Monday July 20.
Positive cases force postponement of Spanish second division game
Deportivo La Coruna's key game against Fuenlabrada in the Spanish second division has been postponed after positive coronavirus cases in the Fuenlabrada squad, who can still make the play-offs this season.
The other matches in the concluding round of fixtures in the division kicked off as scheduled.
A statement on laliga.com said: "Due to positive cases of COVID-19 amongst the CF Fuenlabrada first team squad detected with the use of anti-COVID-19 health protocols and controls put in place by LaLiga, the RFEF and LaLiga - following guidelines from the Monitoring Commission and with the presence of the CSD - have mutually agreed to postpone the match between RC Deportivo and CF Fuenlabrada due to extenuating circumstances."
