Exclusive: Newcastle game against West Brom at risk of postponement with Covid cases 'well into double figures'
Newcastle United’s training ground remains closed following more positive coronavirus tests, with their home game against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday also at risk of being postponed.
Newcastle became the first Premier League club since the start of the pandemic in March to have to cancel a game because of Covid-19 when the match at Aston Villa was called off last week.
Telegraph Sport revealed fears of a mass outbreak more than a week ago and the virus has continued to spread even though the training ground has been closed for the last 10 days.
Having travelled to Crystal Palace on November 27th, where they won 2-0, Newcastle manager Steve Bruce was subsequently informed that two players who had previously tested negative had returned positive tests.
Those two players had been mixing with the rest of the squad for several days leading up to the Palace game and, inevitably, given the close contact in and around the training ground, several more players have since returned positive tests.
It is not known precisely how many players have tested positive and nobody employed by the club will publicly confirm how bad the outbreak is. But it can be revealed that numbers have risen, with the total number well into double figures.
Sources connected, but not employed by the club, have told Telegraph Sport that the situation remains a perilous one and that the game against West Brom may also have to be postponed.
Newcastle are still worried about the risks of asking players and staff to return to the training ground until they are certain all those who have the virus are isolating.
One of the main issues is that some of those who have tested positive have subsequently infected family members, some of whom fall into the high-risk category and therefore have an increased risk of suffering life-threatening symptoms.
As things stand, it is thought Bruce would struggle to put out a team against West Brom and with players unable to train properly for more than a week, there are other concerns about player welfare.
The club are awaiting a fresh round of test results before deciding whether to ask the Premier League to give them permission to postpone a second successive fixture.
Public Health England, Newcastle City Council and other local government agencies are also liaising with club officials and could even prevent them from reopening the training ground this week even if there is better news with the test results at the start of this week.
That would leave the Premier League with no other option but to agree to rearrange the West Brom game as Newcastle would not be able to train at all together before the match.
Players have been given individual training sessions to do at home, but some have been so poorly they have been unable to join in.
