Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Josh Challies & Richard Cusack

This is why Sheffield Wednesday vs Nottingham Forest is to go ahead despite coronavirus fears

Nottingham Forest's trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday (3pm) is still scheduled to go ahead despite fears around the coronavirus.

COVID-19 continues to dominate the sporting agenda with Leagues around Europe playing games behind closed doors and some countries, including Spain, have postponed competition altogether.

Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis tested positive for the virus earlier this week, but the City Ground club confirmed that none of their players had the coronavirus after they were tested.

Marinakis was at the City Ground for the 3-0 defeat to Millwall on Friday night.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke today about the government's plan to 'delay' the spread of the disease.

It was thought that he would announce plans to ban sporting events - but that didn't happen.

And the UK’s chief scientific advisor Sir Patrick Vallance has explained why Premier League and EFL matches have not been banned amid the spread of coronavirus.

"Of course there is a risk," he said.

"(If) one individual is infected, you are releasing the virus from your body as you cough, sneeze or put fluids onto surfaces.

"But on average, one person infects two or three others.

"You therefore have a very low probability of infecting a large number of people in a stadium.

"Or a rather higher probability of infecting people very close to you.

"That means that most of the transmission tends to take place with friends and colleagues, in close environments - not in the big environments.

"It is true of course, that any cancellation of things can have some effect.

"But if you then get a displacement activity, where you end up with everyone congregating somewhere else, you may actually have an increased risk.

The EFL logo (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

"Particularly in an indoors environment.

"It doesn't mean you shouldn't at some point make a decision for the resilience point that has been discussed.

"But this is not a major way to take this epidemic.

"The major ways to tackle it are to try and reduce and delay the transmission across households and across people who have become infected.

"That's why that is the concentration of the first actions.

"And they are not trivial actions.

"These are quite difficult things for people to actually comply with and to do."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.