Andrea said he was diagnosed with COVID-19

LOS ANGELES: Italian music icon Andrea Bocelli confirmed that he had tested positive for the Coronavirus in March, but had made a “full recovery” before the historic ‘Easter Sunday’ webcast at the Milan cathedral.

The veteran opera singer recently made the revelation in a ‘Facebook’ post.

Bocelli, 61, said he didn’t publicly share his diagnosis earlier as he wanted to protect his family’s privacy and didn’t want to “unnecessarily alarm” his fans.

“The pandemic which has shaken the world has also affected albeit mildly me and certain members of my family. I certainly didn’t want to unnecessarily alarm my fans and also wished to protect my family’s privacy. We were fortunate enough to have a swift and full recovery by the end of March,” he said in the statement.

Bocelli also said he has donated blood plasma to help researchers find a cure for the deadly virus.

“Given the chance to donate blood to help find a cure for COVID-19, my response was an immediate ‘yes’. A modest but fundamental gesture it was, through which I played my small part.”

The singer first revealed that his family had been sick with the Coronavirus during a ‘Wall Street Journal’ interview which was published last week.

“I was able to be with my entire family and we all got infected. We had a fever, then we were cold, and then we got a little bit of a cough,” he said.

Bocelli had delivered an inspiring 25 minutelong live performance from an empty city and of the Duomo cathedral in Milan to spread the message of joy and hope in the times of the pandemic on Easter Sunday.

The singer, who has been blind since age 12, broke records with his ‘Music for Hope’ concert which was live-streamed worldwide on ‘Youtube’.

According to ‘Variety’, the performance was globally viewed by more than 28 million people in its first 24 hours and has currently been viewed more than 40 million times.

The music icon revealed that he didn’t want to ‘unnecessarily alarm’ his fans earlier