CORONAVIRUS: CITY’S GAME AGAINST REAL MADRID CALLED OFF
MANCHESTER City’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid has been postponed.
The Blues were due to play the Spanish giants next Tuesday but the entire Real squad were sent home and told to self-isolate for 15 days after a Real Madrid basketball player tested positive for coronavirus.
The basketball team shares training facilities with the football squad, and – after consulting with City and Real – UEFA has postponed the game indefinitely.
City have confirmed one of their senior players is currently self-isolating after a family member was taken ill with symptoms of respiratory illness and is being treated in hospital. The patient has undergone tests for coronavirus.
There have been reports the player concerned is Benjamin Mendy but Manchester City have not identified him.
The Real Madrid tie is the second Blues game in a week to be postponed due to players self-isolating after coming into contact with coronavirus victims.
Wednesday night’s Premier League game against Arsenal was called off after it was discovered that some Gunners players had met Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis, who has since tested positive for the virus.
Last night it was confirmed that Arsenal head coach and former Manchester City assistant manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for the virus. Arsenal’s first-team squad and anyone else who has been in close contact with Arteta has been told to self-isolate.
Manchester United, meanwhile, said they would pay £350 towards the travel and accommodation costs for each supporter who bought an away ticket for their Europa League match in Linz, Austria, last night. United’s match was played behind closed doors due to concerns but a number of Reds fans still travelled to Austria.
The club said in a statement: “The payment is being made in recognition of the late stage at which the decision was made to play behind closed doors, due to a directive from the Austrian government.”
The sporting developments came as the number of people with the virus rose in Greater Manchester.
A third case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Stockport, and a second in Tameside.
Across Greater Manchester, the total number of cases currently stand at 30, breaking down as: Trafford – six; Oldham – five, Bury – three; Bolton – three; Stockport – three; Wigan – three; Manchester – three; Tameside – two; Rochdale – one; and Salford – one. The Salford case has led to the closure of three primary schools after the parent of a pupil was diagnosed with COVID-19. The child is a pupil at Lewis Street Primary School.
The school closed at lunchtime yesterday.
Two linked schools – Christchurch Primary in Eccles and Lark Hill in Salford – were closing today.
The parent is now at home selfisolating.
Salford council said in a statement: “Public Health England is contacting people who had close contact with the person to ensure they receive the correct medical advice and guidance to use if they become unwell.”
A council source confirmed the news about the three schools. Some teachers work at two or more of the sites.
Manchester Metropolitan University has announced an end to face-to-face teaching. Students received an email yesterday detailing plans to finish lectures a week before the end of term.
The spring term will finish on April 3, but no lectures, seminars or any contact teaching will take place after March 27.
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CORONAVIRUS “is the worst public health crisis for a generation”, the Prime Minister has said as he set out measures that could “cause severe disruption for many months”.
Boris Johnson said anyone with coronavirus symptoms, however mild, such as a continuous cough or high temperature, must now stay at home for seven days.
He said school trips abroad should be stopped, while people over 70 with serious medical conditions should not go on cruises.
But Mr Johnson said there was no need to close schools now as the scientific advice “is that this could do more harm than good”.
He said this tactic may change at some point, while in the future anybody living with somebody who is taken ill will also be told to self-isolate for seven days.
Mr Johnson said families would continue to “lose loved ones before their time” as the coronavirus outbreak worsens.
“We’ve all got to be clear, this is the worst public health crisis for a generation,” said the PM. “Some people compare it to seasonal flu, alas that is not right.
“Due to the lack of immunity this disease is more dangerous. It is going to spread further and I must level with you, I must level with the British public: many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.”
He said there was a need to delay the spread of Covid-19 to “minimise the suffering” and reduce the impact on the NHS.
Mr Johnson said the Government was “considering the question of banning major sporting events”.
He said the evidence suggests it will “have little effect on the spread” of coronavirus, though such events did place a burden on public services.
“If you have coronavirus symptoms however mild, either a new continuous cough or a high temperature, then you should stay at home for at least seven days to protect others and help slow the spread of the disease,” the PM added.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, said the actual number of people infected in the UK at the moment could be between 5,000 and 10,000.
In Ireland, it was announced that schools, colleges and childcare centres are to close for two weeks in an unprecedented lockdown sparked by the outbreak.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar also said large indoor and outdoor gatherings should be cancelled, while the country’s Army is ready to respond to requests for emergency help.
Home working is encouraged and socialising should be limited, official advice said.
It adds that break times in workplaces must be staggered to reduce the infection’s spread.
Restaurants, cafes and other businesses can continue trading but should look at ways to implement public health advice recommending social distancing.
Mr Varadkar said: “We have not witnessed a pandemic of this nature in living memory.”