From the Athletic
The testing process itself will be complex and Premier League medical experts currently expect that the screening process will be comprised of the antigen testing that demonstrates whether or not a person has the disease, rather than to demonstrate immunity. Yet it is further complicated as there have been cases whereby individuals are asymptomatic for several days and as such, anyone in contact with players would need to be tested twice per week, while the results of tests are not instant.
One idea is to create quarantined training bases and hotels that would keep players isolated in their teams and away from their families. Yet clubs and players are warning that the participants simply do not want this. One Premier League player insisted to The Athletic he would not agree to remain in a strict sterile camp as his wife needs his support with their four children, particularly at a time where grandparents or outside help is not feasible due to social distancing guidelines. Another player, however, said he would be concerned to head into training every day and then return home, where he lives with his in-laws, who are in an at-risk category. The Premier League player, who explained he knows staff working around the clock to save lives in hospitals, concluded: “If it is so extreme that you need to lock players away, surely we need to consider why on earth we are playing football.”
Yet there have been exceptions and alarm bells are ringing for some. On Tuesday, one agent in Spain, for example, sent one of our writers a link to a Washington Post article that reported alleged links between coronavirus diagnoses and strokes among younger people in their 30s and 40s. The agent wanted to know whether football could truly say it is not imposing added risk on his client. On Wednesday, research by Italian immunologists based in Berlin, Rome and Vienna suggested that in the course of strenuous exercise, athletes are more likely to inhale virus particles and direct them to the lower parts of the lung.
