Peterborough United splash out £6k on coronavirus testing kits in response to a lack of action and advice from the UK Government

Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony sanctioned the expenditure after becoming frustrated with the response of the UK Government to a crisis that has caused the postponement of the English Football League until April 3 at the earliest.

Posh have two players currently self-isolating.

“It’s been a very frustrating 24 hours because of the lack of information on testing,” MacAnthony stated in a video on his YouTube channel today (March 14).

“The players we have self-isolating rang 111 and were just told to stay at home. There was no advice offered on how to get tested.

“This isn’t good enough. We have some highly-paid athletes who need to keep fit and they are due back in training next week so we need to know it’s safe for them and the staff. We can’t take the chance of anyone affected passing the virus on.

“Myself and my CEO (Bob Symns) spent yesterday ringing clubs who have been affected like Chelsea, Arsenal and Millwall for advice. We rang our own doctors and our own private medical insurance with no joy.

“We eventually tracked down a private medical company who could supply us with testing kits at a ridiculous £150 each so we’ve splashed out £6k on those.

“They won’t arrive until Monday and then it will be 48 hours before the results of the tests are known, but at least we can then make plans for the rest of the season.

“It’s possible clubs and players will have to have a mini pre-season to be ready for when the league resumes and it has to resume at some stage.

“All this talk of cancelling the leagues has to stop. People need to calm down. There will be plenty of time to complete the leagues when this all dies down.

“If the leagues are cancelled there will be a multitude of lawsuits.

“In the meantime the UK Government need to pull their fingers out re testing. They need to follow the lead of the USA who are having drive-through testing clinics where you can take the test sitting in your car and the results are known within 24 hours.”