Several Arsenal staff members test positive for coronavirus

Arsenal are set to introduce stricter Covid-19 protocols after several staff members tested positive for the virus.

No players have been affected by the outbreak yet, so the Gunners' Premier League meeting with West Ham on Wednesday evening is expected to go ahead as planned.

As reported by the Athletic, a "small number" of training ground staff returned the positive tests on Monday and the club are beefing up safety measures as a result. From now on players will be tested in their cars before being permitted to join training.

These measures were first introduced back in the 2019/20 season when football first got back underway after the beginning of the pandemic. That is not the only thing set to change either.

Last week the Premier League instructed clubs to also re-introduce emergency measures following a spike in cases across England. This includes stricter social distancing at stadiums and training grounds, as well as several other steps to curb the spread of the virus.

Arsenal are the latest top-flight club to report coronavirus issues with Tottenham's recent games against Rennes and Brighton called off due to a sizeable Covid-19 outbreak.

It is a similar story at Manchester United, with the Red Devils forced to close their Carrington training ground. It is expected that their game against Brentford in midweek will be postponed too.

Aston Villa have also had players test positive in recent times, as have Brighton and Leicester City.

Arsenal will be particularly concerned with the outbreak as they had to deal with a string of coronavirus-enforced absences at the start of the season. Ben White, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette were among those who were ruled out.


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Source : 90min