Arsenal increase protocols for players as Coronavirus threatens further delays

Arsenal are keen to avoid their schedule being disrupted, as well as hoping to keep a healthy squad of options available for action, and have requested further strictness from their players.

Manager Mikel Arteta was amongst the first in the footballing world to contract the virus back in March 2020, but that incident seems to have been so long ago now, with a number of waves and variants having emerged since.

While there is no lockdown in force, it is admittedly difficult to demand their players to stay at home, but they are now claimed to have been told to avoid any congested areas, as well as advising them to avoid eating out in restaurants at present.

#AFC have imposed a new set of COVID guideline amid rising cases across the #EPL. Club doctor Gary O'Driscoll has now advised players not to go to restaurants or crowded public places amid rising cases at London Colney in recent weeks.https://t.co/J7jimWFRZd

— Kaya Kaynak (@kayakaynak97) December 23, 2021

Especially around the festive period, it must be difficult to enforce such measures, especially for those with families also.

After nearly two years of these on-and-off restrictions, it is frustrating for those who feel like they have kept to the rules and done their bit to limit the spread of the virus, and footballers may also have the belief that they are healthy enough not to be affected by Covid-19, which cannot help with the want to adhere to such rules either.

The fact that we have limited positives at present hopefully means that our players have been trying hard to limit the possibility of contracting the virus however, but we will need to continue that as this new strain spreads like wildfire.

Patrick