Town physio Matt Byard has revealed that it is the new variant strain of Covid-19 which has hit the Blues squad and staff with general manager of football operations Lee O’Neill the latest to have tested positive. Byard is anticipating further positive tests later in the week and believes football could benefit from a ‘circuit breaker’ hiatus given the positive tests at Town and elsewhere.

On Saturday, the club announced that six members of the squad and staff, including manager Paul Lambert, had tested positive for Covid-19. The Christmas games against Northampton and AFC Wimbledon were subsequently postponed.

O’Neill, Lambert and the five players are all in self-isolation, while the the club’s Playford Road training ground has been closed and the squad and staff told to stay away.

In addition to Town, Portsmouth, Peterborough and Sunderland have also reported positive cases in the last few days but the club say the outbreak at Town has the greatest concern at the EFL.

“In previous cases at clubs, the confirmatory source can normally be isolated down to a coach journey or a lengthy meeting indoors. We, however, have had the same protocols in place since we started pre-season training,” Byard, pictured below, told the club site.

“The players are still arriving to training in kit, training and then going straight home. No showers are in use, no canteen where they eat communally.

“If you consider a staged return to normal behaviour at the training ground in five phases, then we are at the beginning of phase two.

“We have only had two cases here in nine months [Kayden Jackson and Matt Gill] so to get seven in one week is alarming.

“I have looked at every avenue and the only scenario for transmission has to be our match against Burton last week and because it seems to have been passed on in a matchday environment, it is confirmation of a new development. We still have stringent protocols in place in terms of use of the dressing rooms, I might add.

“We are doing things the right way. We always have done. Players and staff deserve a great deal of credit as they adhere routinely to the guidelines and the new way of operating. This has been thoroughly supported by senior staff and executives.

“It would have been very easy to allow players and staff to change in the building and have showers, especially given the change in weather. Our adherence to guidelines is still likely to have reduced potential transmission risk, even under these circumstances.

“This new strain of the virus clearly transmits far quicker than the original Covid strain and we have the data and symptom profile that confirms that is what we are dealing with here.

“We have tested all the playing and coaching staff and from the results, we can detect the level of infection and see the patterns emerging, however it’s the speed of the transmission that tells us it’s the new strain.

“We will be re-testing all the staff on Wednesday who have previously tested negative and I do have concerns that there will be more positive cases.

“It’s important to recognise the timing of testing is absolutely crucial in determining the diagnosis. A wrongly-timed test can very likely produce a false result.

“We have to very closely determine potential transmission risks and consider the period of incubation before becoming infectious.

“We have been complimented by the EFL for the procedures we have had in place at the training ground and on matchday - and that is one of the reasons they have become very concerned over the latest developments.

“I know the EFL are looking at bringing in extra measures with maybe more testing, for example. I have always supported routine testing to secure a return to playing programme.

“Personally, with so many clubs affected by this presently and this new strain development, football may benefit from a ‘circuit breaker’ before a return to playing securely.”

Photo: TWTD

Trequartista added 10:56 - Dec 22 The new strain is more transmissible, not more virulent.
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Suffolkboy added 11:05 - Dec 22 One wishes our “ leaders “ were as sanguine as Matt B and our Mgt team: here we see demonstrated the present ultimate in care and attention to detail in looking after ITFC staff , appreciated by EFL , but their efforts betrayed by the developing nature of the. ‘Enemy ‘ ! Well done to all at ITFC , sure we supporters wish you every success in this ‘battle ‘ ,in the same way as on the pitch ! COYB

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Suffolkboy added 11:10 - Dec 22 Treat: look up the definition of virulent and you'll find this description more than adequate ,and definitely NOT incorrect .
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Trequartista added 11:17 - Dec 22 @Suffolkboy The chief scientific advisor to government Sir Patrick Vallance says there is no evidence that the new strain is more virulent.
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PhilTWTD added 11:24 - Dec 22 Trequartista Used that word as it's been used elsewhere but having read further does seem it may not accurately describe the mutation so have amended.
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Scuzzer added 11:41 - Dec 22 Anyone here who can explain how the new variant can be more transmissable? In what ways can this be the case?
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Radlett_blue added 12:04 - Dec 22 Circuit breakers have been shown to be only a temporary fix so a bad idea & will only lead to fixture congestion later. The real idiocy was the football authorities insisting on proceeding with all the near pointless cup competitions in what was always going to be an interrupted season.
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Dmiitri added 12:52 - Dec 22 @scuzzer so basically, what's called the 'spike protein' in the virus can mutate in such a way that makes it easier to 'stick' to our cells. This increases the chance for it to spread in a person and then of course that person can spread it to others
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Ipswichbusiness added 13:09 - Dec 22 @scuzzer there is a (rather controversial) science journalist called Matt Ridley. There is an article by him in The Daily Telegraph today. One treatment for Covid is to take blood from people who have had the virus and recovered and give it to people, e.g. with suppressed immune systems, in the hope that it will be full of antibodies. Mr Ridley argues that the effect of this so-called “convalescent plasma” means; “In a person with a deficient immune system, a large proportion of viruses can proliferate, mutate and diversify, and then the treatment selects a new strain from amongst this diversity. Essentially, the virus has a crash course in evolution. If so, this casts doubt on the wisdom of convalescent-plasma treatment, pitting the possibility that it might save a life against the possibility that it might help the virus become more infectious or lethal.” He goes on to contend that the virus is determined to pass itself on to as many people as it can and so, “Viruses will always evolve to be more contagious as they can ...”

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Ipswichbusiness added 13:10 - Dec 22 That should have read “if they can”.
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afcfee added 13:53 - Dec 22 40000 variants of coronavirus why are we pretending it's a new thing? Itfc should be ashamed the way they're going along with this.
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Edmundo added 14:03 - Dec 22 Good explanation by our physio. Good on him for being on the ball with it. They are all relatively fit, should be looking after themselves, so wish them all well as they have a Christmas to forget: still a rarity to be at home all Christmas Day as a footballer! Merry Christmas all at TWTD
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blues1 added 15:07 - Dec 22 Afcfee. What an idiot you are. Save ur stupid comments for elsewhere.
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midastouch added 21:38 - Dec 22 Wishing all those at ITFC that have contracted the virus a full and speedy recovery.
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Daniel72 added 23:52 - Dec 22 I have very long Covid.. meaning I'll die of something one day... however to restrict another's freedom over something no more deadly than a seasonal flu is evil.
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afcfee added 08:02 - Dec 23 How is it a stupid comment stupid is the fact you believe this crap. Luckily I don't watch the news so won't effect me much. Good luck waiting on God knows how many vaccines for cold strains that have been about for years.
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afcfee added 08:03 - Dec 23 Don't worry you'll have your "freedom passports" soon 😂😂 absolute cucks
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johnwarksshorts added 08:58 - Dec 23 'Stupid is, as stupid does'
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Northstandveteran added 09:12 - Dec 23 I did notice that one poster on this site had their comments removed as they received 62 down votes. On that note, will TWTD be following the larger social media sites by removing false content from now on? These such comments must be particularly upsetting to the the users of this excellent site who have been personally affected by this awful virus. Wishing you all a safe Christmas and New year.

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WhoisJimmyJuan added 09:14 - Dec 23 Afcfee I should imagine in your world, the Earth is flat, the sun revolves around us, the moon is made of cheese and Santa's knows you by name.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 11:10 - Dec 23 Maybe semantics is not the most important issue in the current situation - but then again, maybe it is as misunderstandings might be dangerous. "Virulent" according to the Oxford Dictionary means "extremely severe or harmful in its effects" when talking about a poison or a disease for example. But it can also mean, of a pathogen or virus, "highly infective." So Suffolk Boy was right. It wasn't wrong to describe the new strain as "virulent," meaning that it is more easily transmissible.

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Europablue added 14:01 - Dec 23 Northstandveteran It is an awful idea to remove posts that are deemed to have false information. The WHO was telling us that masks weren't effective against Covid a few months ago, so if I quote them does that make my post offensive? It would be more acceptable to just close the comments on these topics, but why is that even necessary? We can all choose not to read the comments, and people are basically behaving. I don't recall seeing any unacceptable comments on here even when things get a bit heated. We've all been personally affected by the virus even if we haven't had it. Someone who has had a family bereavement due to the lockdown measures might find support for the lockdown offensive. You don't know where to draw the line and neither do I, so better to let the line be the law.

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