Manchester City-Arsenal match postponed due to coronavirus

Due to growing concerns over novel coronavirus and COVID-19, the English Premier League has postponed Wednesday’s match between Manchester City and Arsenal.

Amidst growing concerns over novel coronavirus and COVID-19, Wednesday’s match between Manchester City and Arsenal has officially been postponed.

The concern stems from Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis being confirmed as having COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus (much like the flu is caused by the influenza virus).

Only 13 days ago, Arsenal played Olympiacos in the Europa league, and Arsenal players met with Marinakis after the match.

https://www.arsenal.com/news/manchester-city-match-postponed

Officials decided to shut down Serie A play in Italy until April 3 due to coronavirus, with the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte calling it the country’s “darkest hour.” Serie A play resumed this past Sunday, but games were played in empty stadiums with no fans.

In the United States, the NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS have all temporarily shut down locker room access to the media and all other non-essential personnel in an effort to minimize the threat of spreading coronavirus.

This precautionary measure for the Premier League is something to keep an eye on moving forward. There’s been talks in most sports leagues around the world about possibly playing games without fans in attendance, as well as just cancelling the remainder of the season outright depending on how bad the situation gets.

The coronavirus first emerged in Dec. 2019 in the city of Wuhan, China. To date, more than 90,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide and the virus has been identified in more than 70 countries, including the United States.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.