Harry Diamond
Mikel Arteta says he is ‘completely recovered’ from coronavirus but has revealed his ‘fear’ of passing it on to others after testing positive for the disease.
The Arsenal manager tested positive for the virus earlier this month though has since recovered following a period of self-isolation, Arteta reporting to feeling unwell after it was confirmed Evangelos Marinakis – the owner of Arsenal’s Europa League opponents Olympiakos – had contracted the virus on March 10.
The Spaniard has now opened up on his recovery and says both he, his wife and his nanny – who also contracted coronavirus – are now ‘completely fine’ but admits to fearing fearful when first receiving his diagnosis.
“I am feeling completely recovered [now], it’s true I started having some symptoms when we got the phone call from the club to let us know that we might be exposed to the virus because of the owner of Olympiakos and in that moment… I don’t know, I felt something within me, that I had it,” Arteta told Arsenal Player.
“We had a game the following day against Manchester City, so I made a decision and called the doctor straight away and I asked him to drive home. I spoke with Raul, Edu, Vinai, Huss and we set up a meeting together and I said, ‘Listen, we have a couple of players that have been exposed. There is a massive risk there and as well I am the first one feeling the symptoms, very clear symptoms. So if that is the case, all of the players and the people related to the club who are in contact with me on a daily basis are exposed. So we cannot make that decision, we have to speak to the Premier League, to Manchester City and we have to make the decision pretty quickly.’
“Then you realise, ‘Wow, everybody can be exposed here, this is very serious’ and you start to think about the people that you’ve been in contact with and the other people that can be related to us. That’s when a bit of fear comes.
“In terms of symptoms, it was a normal virus for me. I had three or four days which were a little bit difficult, with a bit of a temperature and a dry cough, and some discomfort in my chest. That was it.
“The difficulty is that I have people at home, three kids as well and I was worried. My missus has been through it and my nanny’s been through it. Thank God, the kids never got it. We are all completely fine now.”
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