Everton's clash against Manchester City in Premier League postponed due to COVID-19 cases

LONDON: The Premier League clash between Everton and Manchester City on Monday (December 28, 2020) has been postponed after an increase in COVID-19 cases.

"Manchester City lodged a request with the Premier League today to rearrange the match following an increase in positive COVID-19 test results received by the club this morning, on top of the cases reported on Christmas Day," said the league in an official statement.

Man City's fixture at Everton, due to be played at 20:00 GMT this evening, has been postponed following a Premier League Board meeting

Full statement: https://t.co/1acm2JUr69#EVEMCI pic.twitter.com/IoFWEPdkC2 — Premier League (@premierleague) December 28, 2020

"This rise has created uncertainty and the Premier League Board received medical advice that the match should be postponed," they added.

They wished those with COVID-19 a safe and speedy recovery and said that they will rearrange the postponed fixture against Everton in due course.

While the defending champions Manchester City are currently placed eighth, Everton is at the third position on the table.

Recently, the Premier League had confirmed that between December 14 and December 20, over 1,500 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19, of which, there were seven new positive tests.

The news comes when a new variant of COVID-19 has been detected in the United Kingdom (UK), that has resulted in several countries closing their borders and suspending their flights, besides other restrictions.

According to Public Health England (PHE), the new strain transmits more easily than the previous variant but there is no evidence that it is more likely to cause severe disease or mortality.