Arsenal announced on Thursday that manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for coronavirus which follows Chelsea youngster Hudson-Odoi, Arsenal acknowledges that a lot of its new developments are unlikely to go forward as scheduled as the club enters temporary lockdown.
“Chelsea men’s team player Callum Hudson-Odoi had a positive test result for Coronavirus returned this evening,” the Blues stated on their official website.”Chelsea personnel who had recent close contact with the player in the men’s team building will now self-isolate in line with Government health guidelines. These will include initially the full men’s team squad, coaching staff and a number of the backroom staff.
“It is expected that those who did not have close contact with Callum will return to work in the coming days. In the meantime, the men’s team building, one of several separate buildings at our training ground, will remain closed. The rest of our training facility, Stamford Bridge and our other facilities are operating as normal.
“Callum displayed symptoms similar to a mild cold on Monday morning and has not been at the training ground since then as a precaution. However, his test came in positive this evening and he will undergo a period of self-isolation. Despite testing positive for the virus, Callum is doing well and looking forward to returning to the training ground as soon as it is possible.
“We will continue to adhere to Government and Public Health Guidelines with regard to our facilities and staff and will be discussing the next steps with regards to upcoming fixtures with the Premier League on Friday morning. We will provide further updates as necessary via the club’s website.
We wish Callum a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming him back to the club soon.”
Arsenal Club release read “Arsenal personnel who had recent close contact with Mikel will now self-isolate in line with Government health guidelines. We expect this to be a significant number of people from Colney, including the full first-team squad and coaching staff, as well as a smaller number of people from our Hale End Academy which we have also temporarily closed as a precaution.
“We expect those who did not have close contact with Mikel to return to work in the coming days. In the meantime, our Colney and Hale End training centers will undergo a deep clean and our other club sites are operating as normal.
“We will work with Public Health England on the next steps in regard to our facilities and staff, and with the Premier League, Football Association and relevant clubs around our forthcoming matches in the Premier League and Emirates FA Cup.
“It is clear we will not be able to play some fixtures on their currently scheduled dates. We will update supporters who have tickets for forthcoming games with more information as soon as possible.
“We are now working to trace any other people who have had recent close contact with Mikel. We will let them know what has happened and they should follow the NHS guidance which is likely to recommend self-isolation.”