"On Monday 21 December, 967 players and management from our 12 clubs were tested. Of those who were tested 12 people - from five clubs - tested positive. Eight of those who tested positive were players and four were members of staff."
Wednesday 23 December 2020 18:31, UK
The Gallagher Premiership has confirmed 12 positive coronavirus tests among players and staff in its latest round of testing.
On Monday, 967 players and staff were tested with 12 people returned a positive result from five different clubs.
Two of those clubs are London Irish and Leicester with their Boxing Day fixtures against Bath and Newcastle, respectively, having already been called off.
Irish returned only a small number of positives from Monday's round of testing but were forced to act when additional players showed symptoms on Tuesday, the Tigers had "a small number of positive tests" but a large proportion of their squad were ruled out of Saturday's match due to contact tracing.
A statement read: "Premiership Rugby can today confirm the results of this week's PCR COVID-19 screening programme.
"On Monday 21 December, 967 players and management from our 12 clubs were tested as part of the PCR COVID-19 screening programme. Of those who were tested 12 people - from five clubs - tested positive. Eight of those who tested positive were players and four were members of staff.
"Those who tested positive and their close contacts are isolated and assessed in line with the PHE-agreed guidelines.
"Premiership Rugby and the RFU are providing this aggregated information for competition integrity and transparency for the second successive season. No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided under any circumstances. The number of positive results will be made public after each round of testing."
The 12 positive tests are a fall from last week's testing when 18 tested positive from two different clubs on December 14.
Season 2020-21
Week 1 - 967 (players and staff from 12 clubs) tested, seven positive.
Week 2 - 983 tested, seven positive.
Week 3 - 986 tested, zero positive.
Week 4 - 1,034 tested, three positive.
Week 5 - 1,047 tested, 18 positive.
Week 6 - 967 tested, 12 positive.
