Premier League tops weekly record for new covid-19 cases

The Premier League has revealed new cases of covid-19 at its clubs have topped 100 for the first time in a seven-day period.

League chiefs said there were 103 freshly discovered cases in the week from Monday December 20 to Sunday December 26.

That follows the announcement of 90 new positive cases for the previous week, which was more than double the previous high.

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It comes as more games fall by the wayside due to clubs being overwhelmed by new cases. Together with mid-season injury tolls, the cases have left several teams unable to field sides.

Three of nine games scheduled for Boxing Day could not be played.

Those were the games between Liverpool and Leeds United, Wolves and Watford, and Burnley and Everton.

Games scheduled for Tuesday between Aston Villa and Leeds, and Arsenal and Wolves, have also been postponed.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Premier League said: "The league can today confirm that between Monday 20 December and Sunday 26 December, 15,186 covid-19 tests were administered on players and club staff. Of these, there were 103 new positive cases."

Testing efforts have been stepped up dramatically since the omicron variant of the virus began to take hold in England. In the week from December 6-12, there were 3,805 tests carried out, which jumped to 12,345 a week later and has again risen as clubs and league officials attempt to contain the virus and enable games to be played.

Supporters are also facing checks before entering stadiums, being instructed to prove they are free from the coronavirus before being allowed into grounds.

Last week, it was disclosed that 16 per cent of players in the Premier League had not yet had a first vaccination during the pandemic.