Premiership reveals number of COVID-19 cases

NEWS: Premiership Rugby on Wednesday revealed the results of their latest weekly round of COVID-19 testing.

This past Monday, August 10, 989 players and club staff (the largest number so far) were tested as part of the PCR COVID-19 screening programme.

"Of these, four people have tested positive, from three different clubs," the tournament organisers said in a statement.

"Of those four, one is a player and three are members of staff."

For the second successive week just one player tested positive.

Those who have tested positive and their close contacts will now isolate and be assessed in line with the PHE-agreed guidelines.

Premiership Rugby and the RFU are providing this aggregated information for competition integrity and transparency.

"No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided," the statement said.

The number of positive results are made public after each round of testing.

This week, which culminates with the resumption of the Premiership, there are two separate testing days.

The second one was Wednesday, August 12, with the results expected on Friday, August 14.

The results so far have been:

Week One (6 July) - 804 players and club staff were tested. Of these, ten people tested positive. Of those ten, six were players and four non-playing staff

Week Two (13 July) - 856 players and club staff were tested. Of these, nine people tested positive. Of those nine, seven were players and two non-playing staff.

Week Three (20 July) – 896 players and club staff were tested. Of these, two players tested positive.

Week Four (27 July) - 846 players and club staff were tested. Of these, five people tested positive. Of those five, four were players and one was a non-playing member of staff.

Week Five (3 August) – 917 players and club staff were tested. Of these, two people tested positive. Of those two, one was a player and one was a non-playing member of staff.

Week Six  (10 August) – 989 players and club staff were tested. Of those four people tested positive. Of those three, one is a player and three are non-playing members of staff.