The coronavirus continues to make headlines and have a major impact on society across the globe and this week, Exeter City had their first scare of the ongoing pandemic.

When Nottingham Forest announced that  their owner, Evangelos Marinakis, had tested positive for COVID-19, few would have thought it had implications for the Grecians. That was until manager Matt Taylor remembered Jayden Richardson was on-loan from the Championship club and precautionary steps were taken to ensure the talented 19-year-old was not carrying the deadly disease himself.

“We had a situation this week where the Nottingham Forest chairman contracted it and we obviously have Jayden Richardson on-loan from Nottingham Forest,” Taylor explained.

“He has been in contact with some Nottingham Forest players in the last couple of weeks, so no one really thought about it until it clicked in my mind.

“We went through the right avenues in terms of getting Jayden medical advice and what have you and we will keep monitoring that situation.”

This week has seen the first real cases of coronavirus in football with some players contracting the virus and others in isolation, having shown flu-like symptoms, mainly as a precautionary measure.

Asked if Richardson had been in isolation, Taylor said: “No, the advice was that all the Forest players had been tested and not got it, only the owner has got it. Jayden has only come into contact at certain times, so the advice is that he is fine to continue as normal.

“I mean, that is something you don’t really think about, but it is something we have to keep on monitoring. It is not an easy situation, but there are a lot worse positions to be in in the world than a safe group environment like a football club.”

Hand sanitisers were installed at Exeter City's Cat & Fiddle training ground this week in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak

Newly installed hand sanitisers were notable at the club's training ground this week as City do their bit to try and prevent the spread of disease, but with the number of cases continuing to rise, it seems a matter of time before it has a bigger impact on football.

City play host to Salford City this season and while there are no plans at present, it seems a matter of time before the government put a stop to social events where large numbers of people gather.

What happens next is anyone’s guess and Taylor says he has no preference to playing behind closed doors, or postponing matches until further notice.

“No one wants to play behind closed doors. We speak about money coming into clubs – we are a Trust owned club and that is huge for us. How does the club keep going without it?

“If we get told to, then we support that decision. But then, surely the players are coming into contact, the staff are coming into contact, so where do you draw the line in terms of where the dangers are?

“i am not medically qualified enough to go into detail about that, but whatever happens, it won’t be ideal. It will be done for the greater good, I suppose, and protecting the public, the players, the staff and their families off the back of that.

“I have no preference whatsoever. My only preference would be that everyone stays as safe as they possibly can. We have an idea what will happen in the future and we can’t control that.”