Spurs Women manager Karen Hills in quarantine after COVID-19 exposure

Thus far, Tottenham Hotspur has been fortunate to escape without a whole bunch of COVID-19 related repercussions. Since the virus emerged in the UK, there have been a few confirmed and unconfirmed reports of positive tests within the greater Spurs community, but the coaching staff on both the men’s and women’s teams has remained luckily unaffected.

Until now. Tottenham Women today announced via their social media channels and the club website that co-manager Karen Hills is going into quarantine after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

According to Spurs’ official release, Hills is undergoing the UK government protocol of 14 days of precautionary isolation, meaning that she will miss Spurs’ next match, the upcoming Continental Cup group stage match against Chelsea on Tuesday, November 3. If all goes well she should be back for the WSL league match against Reading on Sunday, November 8.

One of the advantages of having two head coaches, as Spurs does, is that the club is unlikely to miss a beat with Hills out of action. Co-manager Juan Amoros will continue to lead the team in Hills’ absence, and anyway it’s not like she can’t Zoom some training advice to her coaching staff and players while she’s at home.

This isn’t a positive test, but just a safety protocol. The release said that Hills had tested negative as of a few days ago and will be tested again before returning to the team. It’s a reminder, though of how pernicious this virus is and why everyone must take precautions to contain its spread. (Wear those masks, people.)