Premier League reports fourth straight weekly fall in COVID-19 cases

The Premier League said on Monday it had reported 16 new infections of COVID-19 in the previous week, continuing a downward trend in the number of positive cases for a fourth week.

The league recorded 33, 72 and 94 cases in the last three reports, while there were 103 positives - a weekly record - between Dec. 20 and Dec. 26.

"The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday Jan. 17 and Sunday Jan. 23, 6,221 COVID-19 tests were administered on players and club staff. Of these, there were 16 new positive cases," it said in a statement.

A total of 22 fixtures have been postponed since last month due to COVID-19 outbreaks at various clubs.

Burnley's home game against Watford on Jan. 18 was the last Premier League tie to be postponed due to COVID-19, with a string of cases leaving the Burnley squad depleted.

That match was pushed back for a second time, after having been rearranged from December, when Watford had an outbreak of COVID-19 in their squad.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)