Player who tested positive featured in behind-closed-doors friendly against Tottenham on Friday; Spurs confirm no squad members will have to self-isolate
Sunday 14 June 2020 13:24, UK
A Norwich player - and one other person at a Premier League club - has tested positive for coronavirus in the latest round of testing.
The player was one of two positive cases from 1,200 tests and Sky Sports News can confirm he played in Friday's behind-closed-doors friendly against Tottenham.
He must self-isolate for seven days, which rules him out of Norwich's Premier League game against Southampton this Friday.
A statement from Norwich read: "Norwich City can confirm that one of its players has returned a positive test result following the recent round of Covid-19 testing.
"In line with the Premier League's protocols, the player will now self-isolate for a period of seven days before being tested again at a later date. The player must return a negative test result before being able to resume training.
"The club will not name the player in question and asks that his request for privacy and confidentiality are respected at this time."
Norwich beat Tottenham 2-1 on Friday, but players from either club who may have come in contact with the player will not have to self-isolate, as they are not deemed to have been in contact for long enough, according to Government advice.
Close contact is defined by the Government as being within two metres of someone who is a confirmed case for 15 minutes or more.
Tottenham have reiterated that the Norwich player had no "close contacts" with any of their squad members during Friday's friendly fixture, and have confirmed that their playing and non-playing staff will not need to self-isolate for seven days.
A club statement read: "We continue to operate within the strict guidelines outlined by the Premier League to ensure we avoid any risk of infection spreading should anyone else test positive, including practising social distancing so no 'close contacts' are created, which has been defined by Government as being within two metres of a confirmed case for 15 minutes or more.
"This means that no other member of the squad or staff should be forced to self-isolate other than the person who returns a positive test result and their household members.
"The Norwich player in question has confirmed he had no 'close contacts' with our team yesterday and our squad has also verified this.
"Our testing has continued to return only negative results for COVID since one positive reading was confirmed almost two weeks ago."
The latest coronavirus testing results for Premier League clubs were from the eighth round, which took place across Thursday and Friday. The first seven rounds of Covid-19 testing returned 14 positives and 7,474 negatives.
A Premier League statement read: "The Premier League can today confirm that on Thursday, June 11 and Friday, June 12, 1200 players and club staff were tested for Covid-19. Of these, two have tested positive from two clubs.
"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."
Top-flight action in England is scheduled to resume on Wednesday, when Aston Villa play Sheffield United and Manchester City face Arsenal.
The Premier League 2019/20 season will provisionally restart on Wednesday June 17 and Sky, the UK's leading football broadcaster, will make 25 games available 'free to air' - including Everton vs Liverpool on the first full weekend back - for everyone in the UK to enjoy.
Sky Sports will show 64 live Premier League games when the season resumes. In addition to the 39 matches already scheduled to be broadcast exclusively live on Sky Sports before the coronavirus interruption, 25 more matches will be available on both Sky Sports Premier League and Sky's free-to-air Pick channel, allowing the whole nation to be part of the return of live sport.
To celebrate the return of the Premier League, Sky Sports will also launch a host of innovative new features and updates to give fans an even more immersive experience and share the moments live with family and friends on virtual platforms.
Free-to-watch highlights of every remaining Premier League game this season will be available from shortly after the full-time whistle on the Sky Sports website, Sky Sports App and Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.
