Insta
Arsenal Head Coach Mikel Arteta (Arsenal Football Club)
Arsenal Head Coach Mikel Arteta, who has "completely recovered" from COVID-19, believes people should be "emotionally more open" after the coronavirus pandemic.
Arteta, 38, tested positive for the virus on 12 March but has since recovered after self-isolating.
"We are in a world here where everything is social media, everything is a WhatsApp text," Arteta was quoted as saying by BBC Sports.
"But how important is touching each other, feeling each other and hugging each other?
"I miss that with a lot of the people I love. We have to be emotionally more open. We have to tell each other what we are feeling," he added.
"We cannot just in two or three months' time - if we are able to get over this quickly - forget about this, because it's so important."
He reported feeling unwell after it was confirmed Evangelos Marinakis -- the owner of Greek side Olympiakos, who played Arsenal in the Europa League in February - had coronavirus on 10 March.
Arteta said his main concern was his three children after his wife and their nanny contracted the virus.
"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 our nanny's been through it.
"I am feeling completely recovered (now)...," he told the club website.
"We are living in a unique situation, so I think all of us are trying to react to the situation that is coming on a daily basis and trying our best to overcome the situation.
The Spaniard urged people across the world to stay indoors and follow the guidelines put in place by the authorities in order to slow down the process of virus transmission.
"...And please to everybody, we are a little bit behind other countries, for example Spain, where I know the situation they are living at the moment, and while we are having the opportunity a little bit to minimise the risk, I encourage everybody please to be responsible and stay at home as much as possible. That is all we can do from our position, we don't have the ability to help others in other circumstances, so please at least stay at home and do what is required."
"We have to slow the process down and the virus down, so please stay at home," he added.
The story has been published via a syndicated feed
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.
Latest