Rugby Football League hold talks over 2022 plans after spread of Omicron variant

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josie andrews
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Rugby Football League hold talks over 2022 plans after spread of Omicron variant

Post by josie andrews »

The new Covid-19 variant is causing concern ahead of next season

Rugby league is still planning to proceed as planned for the 2022 season as things stand despite the spread of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.

The Rugby Football League have held meetings with a number of other major sporting bodies in recent days to discuss the threat posed by the variant, Rugby League Live has learned.

Omicron is reported to be more transmissible from person to person than previous variants and this week, the Premier League posted a record number of 42 positive cases in their latest round of testing. Manchester United's game against Brentford was postponed on Tuesday due to an outbreak at Old Trafford.

With rugby league planning to reintroduce scrums next year, the news of a more transmissible strain of the virus could complicate that issue. At the time, the RFL said that it had confidence scrums could return due to the fact around 85 per cent of players at most clubs were fully vaccinated, with the rates even higher at some clubs.

Rugby League Live understands that the governing body has set a target of December 31 for that threshold to be reached across the sport and that all clubs remain on target to hit that figure. However, Omicron's emergence and virulence could change that plan yet.

If, as has been reported, Omicron is more transmissible, that could impact the number of cases seen in the sport, potentially throwing into doubt the return of scrums. The RFL is adamant it will do whatever is necessary to ensure games are not cancelled, but officials insist no changes have been planned yet and as things stand, the plans remain on course to continue as previously announced in October.

There is cautious hope too that with Super League not returning until February, the majority of issues surrounding the new variant will have started to ease.

A large portion of the country will have likely received a booster jab by then - though that in itself creates another potential issue as the Government announced this week that people will now need both their original jabs plus a booster shot to be considered fully vaccinated.

Whether that leads to a rethinking of the protocol as the new season approaches remains to be seen but for now, things are set to continue as planned.

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/ru ... dium=email
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But to stand behind a team, to defend a team when it is down and really needs you,
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