Premier League Virus Cases Drop to 16 As Pressure Eases

On Monday, the Premier League announced that in the latest round of testing, only 16 players and workers tested positive for coronavirus, a drastic decrease from recent weeks. As authorities fight a highly contagious strain of Covid-19, Britain is in a fresh lockdown, but concerns of another closure have eased for the English top-flight.

Due to an outbreak that shut down Villa's training ground, Aston Villa's clash with Everton was the only postponed fixture over the weekend, reports AFP.

The Villa first team are due to return to action on Wednesday, away to Manchester City.

“The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday 11 January and Sunday 17 January, across two rounds of testing, 3,115 players and club staff were tested for Covid-19. Of these, there were 16 new positive tests,” the league said in a statement.

A record 40 positive cases were reported two weeks ago, a figure that dropped to 36 last week.

Pressure has been applied to Premier League stars to rein in exuberant goal celebrations.

Leicester’s James Maddison showed the restraint bosses asked for as he mimicked hand shakes and high-fives from a distance after smashing the Foxes into the lead against Southampton.

“If little things like that are what’s required to keep football going, that’s what we all want,” said Maddison.

“Footballers get a lot of stick and it’s nice to try to turn a serious message into a lighter note because I think the whole country wants football to continue.”

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers announced that, without congregating, he had asked his players to "get creative" and find new ways to celebrate.

Some others refused to follow the warnings, however. After their goals, Manchester City's players gathered together, while Brighton's long-awaited victory at Leeds was greeted with wild full-time celebrations by Graham Potter's men.