Premier League: COVID-19 positive tests continue to drop following sudden spike in early January

London: The Premier League announced on Monday that seven people tested positive for last week, continuing a downward trend of cases in the English top-flight.

The results — from 2,957 players and club staff — came from two rounds of testing conducted between 25 and 31 January.

That followed eight positives the previous week — itself a 50 percent improvement.

Britain is under a third national lockdown as it battles new strains of the virus and has recorded more than 106,000 deaths — the worst toll in Europe.

Britain was the first Western country to begin a vaccination campaign and has so far jabbed nearly nine million people.

The Premier League introduced tighter protocols last month to ward off the threat of forcing the suspension of the competition.

The last top-flight match postponed because of the virus was between Aston Villa and Everton on 17 January.

In the English Football League, Cheltenham's next two League Two matches against Barrow and Carlisle have been postponed after positive test results.