Ezequiel Garay among five Valencia staff found to be positive for coronavirus
Five people involved with the Valencia first-team squad have contracted coronavirus. “Valencia CF inform that five positive cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus have been detected among first-team staff and players,” the club said in a statement. “All of these persons are now at home, in good health and obeying self-isolation measures”.
Earlier on Sunday, the Argentina defender Ezequiel Garay became the first La Liga player to confirm he has the virus. Fellow centre-back Eliaquim Mangala also confirmed that he had tested positive.
“It’s clear that I have got off to the wrong start in 2020,” he said on Instagram. “I’ve tested positive for the coronavirus, I feel very good and now I just have to listen to the health authorities and for now remain isolated”. The 33year-old had already been ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury in February.
Last month, and before restrictions were placed on sports events in Italy,
Valencia visited Milan for a Champions League match against Atalanta, played in front of a packed San Siro stadium. A Valencia-based radio journalist who travelled to the game tested positive for the virus the following week.
The second leg of the tie, which Valencia lost 8-4 on aggregate, was played behind closed doors at the club’s Mestalla stadium. In line with most major sports worldwide, all organised football in Spain has been postponed for at least two weeks in a bid to prevent further spread of the virus. Spain is the second worst-affected country in Europe after Italy and, since Saturday, has been in partial lockdown as part of a 15-day state of emergency to combat the epidemic.
Spain has so far suffered 288 coronavirus deaths and recorded more than 7,700 cases.