Another Premiership Rugby player tests positive for coronavirus after first round of fixtures following season’s restart

Unnamed player from unnamed club will now self-isolate, as will any close contacts

Rohith Nair
Friday 21 August 2020 16:23 BST
Comments
Beno Obano and Maro Itoje discuss their upbringing in rugby

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

One player in the Premiership tested positive for coronavirus in testing after the first round of fixtures following the season’s restart, Premiership Rugby said on Friday.

The Premiership said 1,043 players and club staff had been tested – the highest number of tests they have carried out in a day since they began testing in early July.

Neither the club nor player were named, but he will now go into self-isolation along with any close contacts until they are reassessed.

The top-flight season was suspended in March due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but clubs were allowed to begin close-contact training last month.

In seven weeks of testing so far, 27 players and 13 members of staff have tested positive. After 14 rounds of the season, Exeter Chiefs top the standings with 50 points, eight ahead of Bristol Bears. Reuters

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in