Angelo Ogbonna Slams 'Completely Unacceptable' EPL Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

West Ham United defender Angelo Ogbonna has slammed the Premier League's reaction to the coronavirus pandemic.

It was announced on Friday that matches in English football's top flight were suspended until April 4. On Thursday, the Premier League had said it expected games to go ahead as planned, although it was later revealed that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had tested positive for the virus.

Speaking to Corriere della Sera (h/t Football Italia), Ogbonna offered a scathing assessment of how the Premier League has responded to the crisis:

"I am happy and relieved that everything has now been suspended, including the minor leagues. It was almost as if they wanted to ignore such a serious problem. 

"It's not just football, but this problem is ingrained in the English mentality. They still don't realise the danger of a virus that can be passed on in seconds if you don't behave in the right way.

"It's completely unacceptable that the Arsenal game against us was allowed to go ahead. They had just played against Olympiacos...It's almost as if they were waiting for someone to die before taking action."

Arsenal faced West Ham in the Premier League on March 7. As noted, the owner of Olympiacos, Evangelos Marinakis, had tested positive for the virus; the Greek side had recently faced the Gunners over two legs in the UEFA Europa League.

Per Sky Sports, after facing Arsenal and coming into close contact with Arteta, West Ham manager David Moyes is said to be self-isolating. He is not reported to have any symptoms of COVID-19.

In addition to Arteta, Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi was revealed to have contracted the coronavirus, although the player said on social media that he had recovered.

The Premier League was one of the last major European leagues to announce the postponement of the competition, with Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A already suspended. The Bundesliga appeared set to play a full round of fixtures before announcing late on Friday that matches had been suspended.

As CNN reports, there are more than 142,000 global cases of the coronavirus, and in excess of 5,300 people have died.