Sunderland bus journey spread virus

A BUS journey is among the suspected causes of Sunderland’s Covid-19 outbreak, with an external employee on board one of those to have tested positive. The League One club have seen five of their senior set-up return positive tests this week, forcing the closure of the training ground and postponement of their next three fixtures. But sources have told Sportsmail that a recent coach trip is the likely source of the spread. There are also questions being asked as to why an external employee on the bus came into close contact with Sunderland players. EFL protocols are in place when travelling on team buses, including face masks and social distancing. On Sunday, a senior player displayed symptoms of coronavirus and later tested positive, as did the external employee. Seven other individuals were put into self-isolation before another four positive tests were confirmed on Wednesday. However, Sunderland still took the decision to play Tuesday night’s home game against AFC Wimbledon. The club say they tried and failed to gain clarity from the EFL over what sanctions they would face should they postpone the fixture. The EFL told Sunderland they could call off the game, but that they would then investigate the circumstances, as is standard practice. The club decided to play despite the risk of Covid-19 being present among their squad. After the spread of the virus became more apparent on Wednesday, the club confirmed that their next three matches had been postponed. The EFL will now investigate the outbreak.