The Premier League meets tomorrow (Thurs) reportedly absolutely determined to ensure that the season comes to a satisfactory conclusion – whatever it takes.
Some are now looking towards China for real hope that the campaign will indeed be completed after it became clear that cases and deaths had fallen dramatically in the country there over recent days.
With a population of 1.2 billion only one death was reported with the number of reported cases falling to around 10,000 from a near 60k peak in the middle of February.
Should the model be reported here and elsewhere it would mean that with strict measures in place, the outbreak looks to have a two to three month life span before it is flattened.
It broke out towards the end of January in China – peaked in mid February – and has been in decline ever since whilst being subjected to severe measures.
And that holds out the hope that should the outbreak have started here in February we could be in a position to start playing football and starting to lead a normal lives again by May.
PL bosses will be hopeful that in such circumstances they can get the season finished by July behind closed doors with the new season being pushed back and probably excluding the Carabao Cup competition.
The Mirror reports there is a real determination to see out the current season out amid fears of a “potentially disastrous breach of their £3billion television contract.”
The Mirror says: ‘The English top-flight could face a race against time in order to complete the season by July 31, before the 2020/21 season’s television contract kicks in on August 1.
A failure to see out the season could reportedly see around £750million of income lost across the division, as well as huge complications moving forward, reports Mail Online.
My money is on Messrs null and void, what an irony, anyone but Liverpool, oh my the gods must really hate those red scousers lol
You bloody scalliwag! Do the gods really like anyone? Its Liverpool’s for the take baby. The gods can go to hell for all I care.
Unfortunately what the Chinese and South Korean analysis shows that you have to aggressively lock down regions quickly and also remember the Chinese built hospitals in 10 days. In the UK restaurants, hotels etc are still open and people are carrying on like normal. I believe the UK following on from China in the same timeframe is low, and probably will last at least 6-8 weeks longer, unless there is complete lock down soon.
Watch for Italy, Spain and France over the next two weeks and if the new cases flatten out and drop as they have in the Far East then this will be very encouraging. However What happens if one player from any team contracts the virus if the season starts again? Surely, that would be the end of it there and then.
Coronavirus was around in Wuhan China much earlier than late January. See Media reports on Connor Reed who got ill in Wuhan on 25 November. He was by no means the first person to be ill in the city. Dr Li Wenliang bravely went public to fellow medics at the end of December to warn them there was a virus. So it’s more like 5 months from first cases in Wuhan to now. And the restrictions in China were much more rigid, much more quickly. Wuhan was isolated and in almost total lockdown at a very early stage. The first case of Covid-19 in the UK was on 31 January. If we follow a similar trajectory, then we are looking at the end of June going in to July. But, the UK has been slower to put in the same restrictions on movement, as were put in place in Wuhan. So we could be looking at end of July going into August, before we reach a similar point to that reached in China today. It’s still highly unlikely the season can be finished by 31 July