NEW SALAMINA ANNOUNCE EIGHT NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES

 Cyprus Mail 22 September 2020 - by Jonathan Shkurko

Nea Salmina players during a game

Football club Nea Salamina announced on Tuesday morning that eight new cases of coronavirus were found after testing all members of the club, staff and players, on Sunday.

The news comes after ten players tested positive on Sunday, which prompted the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) to activate the health protocol put in place by the health ministry and postpone the match between Nea Salamina and Doxa, which was scheduled to take place on Monday.

“The situation at our club is difficult, so our thoughts now are with our players, our staff and their families,” a statement published by the club on Monday said.

“Although our team is already struggling in this battle, we are confident that we will manage to come out of this unprecedented situation and at the same time protect everyone involved.”

On September 18, a football player of Nea Salamina who arrived from Angola on September 14 through Portugal and Austria tested positive, prompting the club to test all its players and staff, 59 people in total.

All the tests came back negative on the same day. However, doctors recommended that 15 out of the 59 tests conducted had to be repeated on Saturday.

Of those 15 new tests, ten players were found to be positive on Sunday for the coronavirus.

According to the protocol, a match has to be postponed if four players on the same team test positive for Covid-19 in a period of seven days.

The protocol also says that teams with confirmed cases of coronavirus must test all their players within 24 hours.

Players and staff found negative will be allowed to return to the pitch, but training will be held behind closed doors for at least seven days. After seven days, the entire club will undergo a second test.