Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta feared who he might have infected when he tested positive for COVID-19, but said on Thursday that he has completed his recovery and is ready to return to work with the English Premier League side.
Arsenal announced Arteta’s positive test two weeks ago on March 12, which ultimately led to the halt in the season as his side prepared to face Manchester City.
The Spaniard believes that he contracted the coronavirus after the team’s UEFA Europa League clash against Greek side Olympiacos in late February.
Photo: Reuters
“I am feeling completely recovered,” he told Arsenal’s Web site. “It’s true I started having some symptoms when we got the phone call from the club [Olympiacos] to let us know that we might be exposed to the virus... I don’t know, I felt something within me, that I had it.”
“Then you realize: ‘Wow, everybody can be exposed here, this is very serious,’” he added. “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.”
Arteta said he coped with the symptoms, revealing that his wife and his children’s nanny also contracted the virus.
Photo: AFP
“In terms of symptoms, it was a normal virus for me,” Arteta said. “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.”
He also thanked his technical staff for keeping the players focused during his absence.
They would continue with individual programs until training can resume on the pitch, Arteta added.
“In difficult moments is where you really see the people and how they react, how they think and how they prioritize things,” he added.
“All the phone calls I’m having with all the members of the board and all my technical staff, all the coaching staff, all the players, how aware and how encouraged they all are to try to help, to try to be on board with the situation and to try to make things easier for the club has been amazing,” Arteta said.
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