The Premier League has been rocked by the news that Arsenal team manager Mikel Arteta was tested and returned positive for coronavirus. Immediately, the North London club ordered a lockdown and league officials will meet Friday to decide on the next best step as the Gunners were forced to postpone upcoming games.
Arteta complained of feeling unwell on Thursday, and the test conducted later that day revealed he was infected with COVID-19, which international health officials have characterized as a pandemic that is causing an outbreak in many parts of the world.
BBC said Arsenal has already shut down the team's training ground and that all employees will be isolated for at least 14 days for safety reasons. The quarantine will also include the Gunners' first-team squad.
According to Arsenal managing director Vinai Venkatesham, efforts are now underway to reach out to "all the relevant people to manage this situation appropriately, and we look forward to getting back to training and playing as soon as medical advice allows."
"The health of our people and the wider public is our priority and that is where our focus is," the official said.
A meeting by key Premier League officials is set later in the week, and the agenda is to decide on upcoming fixtures that will be agreeable to all club members.
"One of the possible options that will be discussed at the meeting is postponing all 10 of this weekend's scheduled fixtures," BBC reported.
This in light of the recent developments that saw members of Manchester City and Leicester City forced into self-quarantine after coming in contact with persons believed infected with COVID-19.
For his part, the 37-year-old Arteta is said to be in good spirits and raring to return to work when he feels better, Metro said in a report.
"This is really disappointing but I took the test after feeling poorly. I will be at work as soon as I'm allowed," the Spanish boss was reported as saying.
It would seem that Arteta is more concerned with the work disruption that his condition will cause, but he is quite optimistic that he will see through the situation and recover quickly.
However, it is expected that Arteta's diagnosis will greatly influence on the emergency meeting called by league officials. There were suggestions of cutting short the season, but the Premier League may just wait out on the possibility of the Champions League being postponed.
If that will be the case, league officials can just postpone the current term and resume the games when the situation permits, thus extending the season.
