Kitchee centre is a popular facility for children football. Photo: David Wong
Source:
https://scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/3077531/kitchees-shek-mun-centre-locked-down-after-staffs-spouse-tests Hong Kong
Kitchee’s Shek Mun centre locked down after staff’s spouse tests positive for coronavirus
- The person returned from an overseas trip on March 18, but did not self-isolate
- All players and staff have to take coronavirus test on Monday as a precautionary measure
Kitchee training centre in Shek Mun is locked-down after a staff’s spouse tested positive for coronavirus. Photo: Handout
Hong Kong Premier League club Kitchee’s training centre in Shek Mun, Sha Tin is in complete lock down after a staff member’s spouse tested positive for coronavirus over the weekend.
A club statement said the person involved returned from overseas on March 18 but her spouse did not report it to the club nor conducted any self-isolation as required by the club. The person was diagnosed with Covid-19 on Sunday.
Kitchee last played Lee Man in the Premier League on March 18 at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground behind closed doors and have since made no appearance in any competition.
As a precautionary measure advised by Kitchee’s medical team, the club had requested all their first team members and staff from the Jockey Club Kitchee Centre to visit doctors on Monday and will be providing test kits for coronavirus. Test samples will be collected on Tuesday morning and test results are expected the following day.
The training centre, which features a large multipurpose artificial turf pitch that can be aligned into different configurations, is closed indefinitely for disinfection and deep cleaning until further notice, the statement said.
Since early February, the club has already suspended all its academy programmes and public bookings at the centre due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Only Kitchee and other Premier League clubs were allowed to use the facility for training. However, with last week’s government decision to close its facilities, which were reopened early this month, the Centre has been closed for all football team training since March 24.
Kitchee centre was badly damaged after flooding caused by Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018. Photo: Chan Kin-wa
The Club said they would continue to monitor the situation closely and to take suitable measures to protect the health of their players and employees.
Powerhouses Kitchee suffered several major setbacks in their Premier League campaign in recent weeks. Following two successive defeats by Eastern Long Lions in the FA Cup quarter-finals and Lee Man in the league, they sidelined their head coach Blaz Sliskovic, who joined the club from Bosnia this summer, with their director of football Chu Chi-kwong taking up the hot seat.
Kitchee are third in the table with 19 points from 10 games, but are three points behind leaders R&F, who also have a game in hand.
The Premier League is also suspended after all government facilities were closed again last week following an escalation of the virus outbreak last week.