Arsenal on lockdown

Mar 13, 2020

Arsenal are now on lockdown after manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for Coronavirus with calls to suspend the Premier League growing louder.

Arsenal's Spanish head coach Mikel Arteta reacts on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates Stadium in London on February 23, 2020. — Arsenal’s Spanish head coach Mikel Arteta reacts on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates Stadium in London on February 23, 2020. (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)

With Chelsea also now reporting a partial lockdown, it seems like the Premier League simply must suspend the competition despite planning on going ahead this weekend.

It would be really beneficial for all of us if we can change our way of thinking from just "am I going to get sick?" to "can my actions inadvertently put others at risk? do I want to be a link in a chain that ends in someone's death if doing so is avoidable?"

— wikipedia brown says #CancelConway (@eveewing) March 12, 2020

Arsenal’s statement said, “Our London Colney training centre has been closed after head coach Mikel Arteta received a positive COVID-19 result this evening.

“Arsenal personnel who had recent close contact with Mikel will now self-isolate in line with Government health guidelines. We expect this to be a significant number of people from Colney, including the full first-team squad and coaching staff, as well as a smaller number of people from our Hale End Academy which we have also temporarily closed as a precaution.”

While the rest of Europe, including Ireland, close down public facilities and limit large public gatherings in order to halt the spread of the virus, the UK have taken a much more blase attitude to the whole thing, the result of which is more people will die than need to.