Premier League to stop twice-weekly PCR tests for players and staff

Premier League clubs will no longer be required to take part in mandatory PCR Covid-19 testing

The Premier League has told clubs there will no longer be a requirement for twice-weekly PCR Covid-19 testing.

Tests will be carried out the day before matches and on all training days, with PCR tests only taken to confirm a positive lateral flow result.

The change comes following the Government's updated policy to testing and isolation, which places less emphasis on PCR tests.

On Wednesday the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) announced that from 11 January, an asymptomatic individual who tests positive for Covid-19 on a lateral flow test would, no longer need to take a PCR to confirm the result. Their isolation would therefore begin on the date of their positive lateral flow test result.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters wrote to all 20 clubs to tell them that the focus will now be on lateral flow tests.

Players and staff testing positive will still take a PCR, but clubs will no longer take part in the mandatory twice-weekly PCR tests.

A total of 17 English top-flight games have been postponed since the start of December because of the impact of the Omicron variant

That led to a return to emergency measures at the Premier League's 20 clubs, which has continued into 2022.

The Premier League announced on Monday that 14,250 Covid-19 tests were carried out on players and staff between December 27 and January 2, with 94 positive results.

This was the first week-by-week decrease in positive tests for eight weeks, with a record 103 positives recorded the previous week.

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