Premier League to Hold Emergency Meeting on Match Status After Mikel Arteta Test

Following Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta testing positive for COVID-19, the Premier League announced on its official website how an "emergency club meeting" will take place on Friday to discuss the status of upcoming fixtures.

Arsenal released a statement late Thursday night confirming Arteta has been diagnosed.

This followed Premier League officials initially announcing games set for the 30th week of the season will go ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The league explained why fixtures will still be fulfilled during the period March 14 to March 16, including Monday's Merseyside derby between Everton and runaway leaders Liverpool, who could be crowned champions at Goodison Park if other results go their way:

The decision to move forward has been made on a day when prime minister Boris Johnson said a ban on sporting events was being considered as part of the government's response to the spread of the virus, per Jacque Talbot of the Daily Mirror.

There is ongoing uncertainty regarding the rest of the calendar in England's top flight. Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers confirmed some of his players had been held out of training:

The Foxes, who beat Aston Villa 4-0 on Monday night, released an official statement detailing how three members of the first-team squad had "presented with extremely mild illness."

There has already been one match postponed in the Premier League, Wednesday's fixture between Manchester City and Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium. The decision was taken to call the game off because the Gunners had hosted Olympiacos in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League last 32.

Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis had been diagnosed with COVID-19, so the Premier League took the step to postpone in conjunction with government recommendations, per the Arsenal official website.

That more games aren't following suit is in contrast to most leagues around Europe and beyond, which have either suspended play for an allotted period of time or opted to host matches behind closed doors.

La Liga and Spain's Segunda Division have suspended play, while the top two divisions in the Netherlands have followed suit, according to BBC Sport. The same report also detailed how Major League Soccer has suspended its season.

Things are slightly different in France, where Ligue 1 and the second tier will be keeping games going but in front of empty stadiums. When or even if the Premier League follows suit with either of these measures remains uncertain.

More than 124,500 people have been diagnosed since the virus began to spread globally, according to the World Health Organisation (h/t CNN).