Chelsea forced to SHUT their academy base at Cobham following coronavirus outbreak

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Chelsea's academy players have been told to keep away from the training base
The facilities are undergoing a deep clean following a coronavirus outbreak
A number of positive tests were recorded over the weekend amid the pandemic
However, the first-team facilities haven't been affected despite the outbreak

Published: 08:48 EDT, 11 January 2021 | Updated: 08:48 EDT, 11 January 2021

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Chelsea have closed their Cobham academy training centre due to an outbreak of coronavirus as the pandemic continues to cause havoc to the sporting calendar.

A number of clubs have been affected by the soaring rise in coronavirus cases sweeping the UK and the Blues have become the latest following the temporary closure of their academy base.

According to the Telegraph, a number of positive cases had been recorded over the weekend, with the academy training facilities now shut for the rest of the week.

Chelsea have temporarily closed their academy training centre after a coronavirus outbreak

Chelsea's youngsters have been urged to stay away from Cobham while their headquarters undergo a deep clean.

However, the outbreak hasn't affected Chelsea's first-team plans with their training facilities remaining open.

The club have kept their senior, academy and women's squads in separate bubbles amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Furthermore, the report adds that the Under 23s have also not been affected as they have been training inside Frank Lampard's first-team bubble.

With those among the academy who have tested positive now in isolation for the next 10 days, two matches have been affected.

The outbreak hasn't affected Chelsea's first-team as they train in a separate bubble

The club's development game against West Ham on Friday night and the Under 18s clash at home to Brighton on Saturday have been called off.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have been left irritated after their Premier League clash with Fulham was moved this weekend due to Covid chaos on Monday.

Fulham have been left furious by the Premier League’s decision to re-arrange their postponed fixture against Tottenham for Wednesday after Jose Mourinho side’s clash against Aston Villa was called off.

To ease their own fixture pile-up, Scott Parker's men will now face Chelsea at 5.30pm on Saturday. They were originally scheduled to kick-off at 8pm on Friday evening - just 48 hours after the Spurs clash - which kicks off at 8.15pm and is will be live on Amazon Prime.

Chelsea have reluctantly agreed to delaying the west London derby by 24 hours by playing on a Saturday, a move that gives Scott Parker’s men extra recovery time.