The latest round of Premier League coronavirus testing found 18 people had the virus – the highest figure recorded in the league’s testing programme.
That figure surpassed the previous highest figure recorded – 16 for 9-15 November – though the percentage of positive cases was lower.
The 18 positives come from 1,479 tests on players and staff between 21 and 27 December, a rate of 1.22%.
The round that produced 16 positives was from 1,207 tests at 1.33%.
On Monday, Everton v Manchester City was postponed four hours before kick-off because of a coronavirus outbreak at City.
On Christmas Day the club reported that Gabriel Jesus, Kyle Walker and two staff members had tested positive for coronavirus, with additional positive tests coming on Monday.
The postponement came on a day that saw a number of English Football League matches called off because of Covid-19.
In League One, Rochdale announced their next two fixtures would be postponed, while Doncaster confirmed their next three games had been postponed.
League Two side Morecambe said their next two matches had been called off too.
The previous round of Premier League testing, from 14-20 Dec, returned seven positives. The league began testing on 31 August.
