Coronavirus Premier League

Newcastle, Villa agree on postponement

Newcastle players and manager Steve Bruce celebrate at the end of a match against Crystal Palace on Nov 27, 2020. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

LONDON • Newcastle United's game at Aston Villa tomorrow has been postponed due to a "significant increase" in positive Covid-19 tests at the club, the Premier League outfit said on Tuesday.

"Several Newcastle United players and staff members are now self-isolating at home after returning positive test results in recent days," a club statement said.

"The club's training centre site has been temporarily closed in order to contain the spread of the virus."

Five people at the north-east club had tested positive for Covid-19, three prior to Newcastle's 2-0 win over Crystal Palace last week and two more over the weekend.

Newcastle manager Steve Bruce had already cancelled training on Sunday due to the outbreak.

The club lodged a request to have the game postponed and that was approved by the Premier League Board on Tuesday.

It is the first Premier League fixture postponed because of Covid-19 since last season resumed with Project Restart in June.

The club said it was working with Public Health England North East (PHE), local health authorities and the Premier League to identify the source of the outbreak and minimise the threat of further transmission of the virus.

"Newcastle lodged a request with the Premier League to rearrange the game following a significant increase in Covid-19 cases at the club," the Premier League said in a statement.

"The club correctly notified PHE, which is standard practice under government and Premier League guidelines.

"PHE convened a meeting with Newcastle and the Premier League yesterday to assess the situation and advised the club's training ground should remain closed and no group training would be permitted between players until Friday at the earliest."

It said all Newcastle's players and staff would be tested again this week.

"The Premier League wishes those with Covid-19 a safe and speedy recovery and will rearrange the postponed fixture against Aston Villa in due course," it said.

The decision to postpone the game was backed by Villa.

"Everybody at Aston Villa wishes a speedy recovery to all those @NUFC affected by the virus," the club said in a statement.

This weekend will see the return of a limited number of fans to some Premier League games for the first time since the pandemic took a grip on the country in March.

Clubs located in the government's Tier 2 regions, including London and Merseyside, can have 2,000 fans in attendance.

The city of Newcastle, however, is in the most severe Tier-3 restriction band. The latest national lockdown in England ended yesterday.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 03, 2020, with the headline Newcastle, Villa agree on postponement. Subscribe