The number of players positive for coronavirus at Genoa has risen to 17 after three more cases were discovered in the squad, the Serie A team announced on Saturday.
In a statement, Genoa said that defenders Davide Biraschi and Domenico Criscito and young Swiss forward Darian Males, on loan from Inter, were positive for Covid-19 following tests carried out on Friday.
The latest results bring the number of people on the playing and coaching staff at the club with the virus to 22. Their Serie A match against Torino, originally scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed.
Of the 17 players to test positive, 11 played either as starters or substitutes during last weekend’s thumping 6-0 defeat at Napoli.
So far, just two Napoli players — Poland midfielder Poitr Zielinski and Macedonian midfielder Eljif Elmas — have been recorded as having the virus but a new round of tests were scheduled for Gennaro Gattuso’s team on Saturday ahead of their clash with champions Juventus on Sunday evening.
On Saturday, Juve coach Andrea Pirlo said that he didn’t believe there was “any risk” of the match not being played.
“I don’t think there will be problems that mean we can’t play the match,” he told reporters.
“We’ve prepared for the match like all the other teams have so tomorrow evening we will be ready to play. It (the situation) hasn’t changed anything for us at all.”
But a later round of testing showed two positive cases among Juve staff, though not connected with the playing squad, management or medical teams.
The squad, as a consequence, will conduct isolated training, Juve said.
No Napoli players have been called up to the Italy squad for the three matches Roberto Mancini’s side have between October 7-14 against Moldova, Poland and the Netherlands.
The Italian Football Federation said that the decision to not select the club’s players was a “precautionary measure” following the outbreak at Genoa.
Atalanta also announced on Saturday that one case “with low viral load was diagnosed within the team group”, adding that the unnamed player was asymptomatic.
