BERLIN: Bundesliga club Cologne are getting no special treatment compared to other businesses in Germany after being allowed to continue training despite three positive tests for Covid-19, team doctor Paul Klein said on Saturday.
“We have no special rules. It’s not true that in a similar case in another company per se, that all have to go into quarantine. There are clear guidelines... on how to deal with contact persons of those infected,” Klein said in an interview with the club website.
Cologne reported the three cases late Friday, from tests conducted the previous day as all clubs are getting ready for a possible league restart later in the month – under guidelines from a task force of the German Football League (DFL) and German Football Federation (DFB).
The three, reportedly two players and a physiotherapist, are to go into quarantine for a fortnight and will be tested again before being allowed to return.
Klein said that the three have been contacted by the city’s health authorities. Any direct contacts of them must also be quarantined but training can continue because the team has trained in small groups and under social distancing rules which minimises risks, Klein said.
“That’s how the health authorities view it. And therefore there is no collective quarantine necessary,” Klein said.
“The prerequisite for this is, of course, that now that we have started testing, we continue to test consistently, thus ensuring that only those who have tested negatively are part of training. We then know who carries the virus and who does not. That is exactly the idea behind the DFL’s medical concept.” – dpa
