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Great news confirmed by the Premier League this weekend, as the fourth round of COVID-19 testing has come back with zero positive results. That’s zero as in none as in no new infections.
The plan, it would appear, is working!
A record 1130 tests were administered on Thursday and Friday, and not a single came back positive. (The false negative rate of the tests administered by the private firm Prenetics is about 1-in-80, but only 1-in-7000 for two consecutive tests.) The previous three rounds of testing had returned a total of 12 positive results (with those individuals quarantining for at least seven days).
Now, if everyone just stays within this bubble, we theoretically should not have any new cases in the future. Obviously, that won’t be possible, but if we can continue to quickly isolate those who do get infected (or come in close contact with someone who is infected), we should be able to maintain this relatively safe work environment of the Premier League.
The Premier League can today confirm that on Thursday 28 May and Friday 29 May, 1130 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.