Liverpool star to fly back to Merseyside despite a third positive COVID-19 test

Mo Salah will fly back to Liverpool despite returning a third positive COVID-19 test

According to a statement given by the Egyptian FA (h/t Mirror), international teammates Mohamed Salah and Mohamed Elneny will fly back to England on Friday. However, Salah will still not feature against Leicester City this weekend due to the Premier League’s COVID-19 regulations.

Salah tested positive for the virus last Friday during a routine checkup and returned a second positive test the same evening. He was then forced into immediate isolation. The Egyptian FA confirmed that the winger has now tested positive for the third time. (h/t Mirror

Nevertheless, Salah has been given the green light to fly back to England. The Liverpool winger, alongside Arsenal’s Elneny, will fly back in a medically equipped plane that will provide a quarantined environment.

However, this does not mean that the current Premier League top-scorer will feature against Leicester City. Premier League guidelines on COVID-19 clearly state that a player must isolate for a minimum of 10 days after their first positive test for the virus.

The player cannot rejoin his/her team within the 10-day period even if they test negative. The players can only rejoin their squads after testing negative outside the 10-day isolation period. (h/t Mirror)

Thus, despite his return to Merseyside before the weekend, Salah will not feature for us against table-toppers Leicester City. The Reds will have to do without the Premier League joint top-scorer. We may see Diogo Jota line up alongside Firmino and Mane in our attack.

Elite sportsmen are allowed to use the travel corridor to play international matches, which circumvents the mandatory 14-day quarantine period that people entering the United Kingdom must observe.

However, it is unclear if this will apply to Salah as the Egyptian tested positive for the virus shortly after attending his brother’s wedding.

If the Egyptian tests negative after the mandatory 10-day quarantine period, then we could see him return to action as early as in the Champions League group stage match against Atalanta next week.