More organisations pitch in by converting stadiums

LONDON • Brighton's Amex Stadium and Twickenham, the home of English rugby, have become the latest British sporting grounds to be given a role in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic,

Both venues, like the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, have been turned into a drive-through Covid-19 testing centre to assist the National Health Service (NHS) during the outbreak.

This is part of the British government's nationwide effort to increase testing for thousands more NHS staff and other key frontline workers. So far, 32 testing sites have been opened across the country, with the aim of providing additional swab tests which can identify if someone has the virus.

Frontline health staff who test negative for Covid-19 will, it is hoped, return to work as soon as possible while those who test positive are allowed to recover away from their colleagues and patients.

Brighton chief executive Paul Barber said on Sunday: "The Amex will be the biggest testing site anywhere on the south coast, and will be used for self-testing and assisted testing. Within a few days, the site should reach its capacity of up to 1,000 tests a day."

With all major sporting activities, including the Premier League, on indefinite hold in Britain, stadiums, which would otherwise lie empty, can be put to better use.

A field hospital has been set up on the pitch of Cardiff's Principality Stadium, the headquarters of the Welsh Rugby Union, and this trend of co-opting grounds as medical facilities looks set to continue.

The English top flight is said to be considering the use of a small number of neutral venues to play the remaining nine to 10 rounds of the season. This would minimise the number of medical, media and security personnel needed, and enable stadiums that are being utilised for medical services to fulfil that pressing need for a longer period.

Serie A has also not been spared the devastation caused by Covid-19, with the Italian league on ice since March 9 and no restart date in sight. To help ease the financial burden, Roma players and coach Paulo Fonseca on Sunday agreed to go without pay, starting from last month to the end of the season, which is currently set for June.

The club's chief executive Guido Fienga said: "We always talk about unity at Roma... the players, the coach, and his staff, have all proved that we really are in this together."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE