Lazio chief medic Ivo Pulcini maintains the protocol demanding the whole group quarantine for one positive COVID-19 case is ‘truly ridiculous.’
The medical protocol was confirmed today, meaning Serie A sides can resume contact training from Monday, with a plan to restart games from June 13.
“Putting the whole squad and staff in quarantine if one person tests positive is truly ridiculous, in my view,” Lazio chief medic Pulcini told Radio Radio.
Lazio chief medic Ivo Pulcini maintains the protocol demanding the whole group quarantine for one positive COVID-19 case is ‘truly ridiculous.’
The medical protocol was confirmed today, meaning Serie A sides can resume contact training from Monday, with a plan to restart games from June 13.
“Putting the whole squad and staff in quarantine if one person tests positive is truly ridiculous, in my view,” Lazio chief medic Pulcini told Radio Radio.
“The scientific committee did not want to listen to the views of those who work in football medicine, who deal with what happens on the pitch and don’t just sit behind a desk.
“If I have a positive case, I put him in isolation, then test all the others. If they are healthy and test negative, why should I treat them as if they are ill? Are we crazy? Do these people know what a medic actually does?”
The other sticking point of the protocol was the decision to make a club medic liable if a player contracts COVID-19.
“In that case, let me take the responsibility of deciding not to put the whole group into quarantine. I have no problem with that. Let’s follow the German model, which only quarantines the positive person for 15 days.”
This is not entirely accurate, because the German model does leave the ultimate decision on quarantine to the local health authorities.
That has already been put into practice at Dynamo Dresden, a team in the German second division, who saw the whole squad quarantined after two players tested positive.