PREMIER LEAGUE covid testers have recorded their first clear week this season.
And League bosses believe they are proving the game is close to winning the battle against the virus.
Over the past week, two rounds of testing, comprising 2,787 samples of players and staff across the 20 clubs, found no positives.
Just over half of those – 1,472 – took place between Monday and Thursday, with a further 1,315 samples taken between Friday and Sunday.
But will all of the tests coming back with negative results, Prem chiefs were delighted to be able to announce the outcome.
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE
The latest results represent clear evidence of the success of the Prem’s medical steps as well as the declining numbers of Covid cases across the country.
League chiefs feared serious problems around the turn of the year as a number of clubs recorded significant outbreaks.
Manchester City, Fulham, Aston Villa and Newcastle were among clubs hit badly by dressing room outbreaks, forcing matches to be postponed including some just three hours or so before the scheduled kick-off.
League chief executive Richard Masters was forced to law down the law to clubs and players following well-publicised lockdown breaches, including the Christmas party attended by players from Spurs and West Ham.
At the peak of the problem over the Christmas period there were 110 positive results between December 21 and January 17, including a record 40 between December 28 and January 3.
That saw the Prem introduce tougher “enhanced protocols” and testing twice each week, with the extra measures immediately taking effect.
Since the start of February, there have been just 21 positives from nearly 30,000 tests.
But last week was the first seven day spell since the final week of last season in July without a single positive in either testing period.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
