Why Hull City refused West Ham’s offer of Covid-19 test - and would do so again

And per those instructions from the governing body, Hull will not test their players ahead of their League One encounter with Northampton on Saturday.

West Ham manager David Moyes and players Issa Diop and Josh Cullen all returned positive results from Covid-19 tests shortly after 6pm on Tuesday.

The game went ahead – West Ham winning 5-1 – and the Premier League club will now deep clean the London Stadium and their training ground ahead of Sunday’s visit of Wolves.

Premier League clubs still test their players once a week, per league guidelines, but EFL clubs are no longer mandated to carry out tests on their players or staff.

As a Championship club last season, Hull were testing their players twice a week, but after relegation – and in line with a change in EFL guidelines – they only had to test their players three more times; coming back for pre-season, midway through pre-season and on the eve of their first game on September 12.

In line with those guidelines, Hull have not tested their players since w/c September 7.

David Sullivan, West Ham’s co-owner, said yesterday his club offered for Hull City’s players to be tested once they were drawn together in the Carabao Cup. Hull City declined the offer.

Ronnie Banerjee, Hull’s team doctor, told The Yorkshire Post: “The reason we didn’t do it is because it’s not a requirement.

“We won’t be the first, we won’t be the last club. There is no reason why you have to do it.

“As a club we are trying to do everything we can to mitigate risk. We are conducting daily questionnaires with our players, temperature checks. We’re maintaining social distance, wearing PPE, upholding good hygiene standards – these are the mainstays of treatment.

“If someone developed symptoms then that’s a different stance, that person wouldn’t be coming in and we would pick that up from the checks that we do. If we feel it’s appropriate to test our team then we will test them, and that’s following guidance from the EFL and Public Health England.”

Asked if the positive results by three members of the opposition team would prompt Hull to conduct tests on their own players before their next game, Banerjee said it would not.

He explained: “West Ham have found out about their positive tests at around 6ish. It’s not an ideal scenario, they should have had their results back prior to that, but once they’ve found out, these three people have been isolated, then ushered out of the stadium and sent home.

“Anyone they have been deemed to have been in close proximity with, ie within one metre for more than 15 minutes, is classed as a close contact.

“There’s no one else in their playing squad, or their backroom staff, that they have assured us of, who has been in close proximity with these people.

“We’ve then sought advice from the EFL chief medical superviser, and we’re happy on both sides that we’ve mitigated the risk. If the people who have tested positive for Covid have been immediately isolated and we’ve been ushered into the stadium and maintained social distance then we have not been in close contact to these people.

“So playing the game was safe, and moving forwards that’s no different to the next game.

“Will we be conducting tests before the next game? No, because we have taken the appropriate measures. If, in the next day, week, people develop symptoms from our rigid checks, we will go through a thorough history and get them isolated and tested. We are confident in the protocols we have in place.”

It is understood the EFL is reviewing their stance on testing.

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James Mitchinson