Arsenal’s preparations for the Premier League restart on June 17 were hampered by one of their players
testing positive for Covid-19, with three forced into quarantine.
The Gunners made their return to competitive action after a three-month hiatus away at Manchester City.
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An error-strewn performance from David Luiz cost them dear at the Etihad Stadium, with the Brazilian
defender at fault for the opening goal before then conceding a penalty and being sent off.
Mikel Arteta, who tested positive for coronavirus in March, had, however, been given plenty of cause
for concern before a ball was kicked in anger.
Goal can confirm that Arsenal’s efforts to ready themselves for the resumption of top-flight football
were disrupted by the enforced absence of three senior stars from training.
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In the week building up to a meeting with City, a trio of performers had to sit out three sessions because
one tested positive for coronavirus.
The unnamed player was instructed to self-isolate for seven days as a result, while it was also
determined that he had been in close enough contact with two team-mates that they had to take similar
action.
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Government guidelines dictate that anyone coming within two metres of an individual who has tested
positive, and spending more than 15 minutes in that vicinity, must enter a period of quarantine.
Arsenal took the appropriate action, but were always of the opinion that a “false positive” had been
recorded.
That is because they had formed part of the stringent testing regulations put in place by the Premier
League which delivered no positive test results.
Private samples were taken from those concerned as the Gunners sought to get to the bottom of the
matter, with the supposed carrier seeing the antigen and antibody tests come back negative.
Anybody in that position is, as laid out by the government, allowed to stop self-isolating once they are
cleared.
Arsenal’s tests had, however, been conducted in-house and could not be approved by those at the
Premier League.
As a result, the three individuals concerned had to wait for the next round of official testing – which
was carried out on the Monday leading up to a Wednesday restart.
