Coronavirus: Chinese football star Wu Lei tests positive, goes into self isolation
- The 28-year-old Espanyol striker is one of four players from the club to be infected with the deadly virus but doesn’t require hospitalisation
- Wu is Shanghai SIPG’s all-time leading scorer and joined La Liga last winter, making 38 appearances for Espanyol so far this season
Wu Lei has become the first prominent mainland athlete to contract Covid-19 as Europe continues to struggle with the deadly outbreak infecting hundreds on the continent by the day.
Wu, who plays for Spanish side Espanyol, is the only Chinese footballer to be playing in the Primera Liga and his positive test was confirmed by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) on Saturday.
“The CFA has been informed by Spanish football club Espanyol that Chinese national team member Wu Lei was diagnosed with coronavirus,” read a statement.
“Wu is currently receiving treatment after showing mild symptoms. The CFA is keeping close contact with Wu as well as Espanyol. We will render all necessary assistance to him contingent on how circumstances evolve.
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“Hopefully, Wu will have a speedy recovery. Thank you for your concern,” it added.
Striker Wu is also the only Chinese player who plies his trade in one of top five major European football leagues. He is the first professional footballer from the mainland who has tested positive for Covid-19, which has claimed more than 11,000 lives across the world. The 28-year-old Wu is arguably the biggest name in Chinese football today.
Espanyol announced on Tuesday that six members of their team had been diagnosed with the coronavirus. Spanish radio station Cadena Cope revealed on Friday that Wu was on the list of four infected players with the Spanish First Division bottom club.
According to reports, Wu did not exhibit typical symptoms of fever and that he and the five other infected individuals only showed mild symptoms of the disease and that hospitalisation was not required. Wu is self-isolating at home with a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Spain is one of the hardest hit countries in Europe affected by the coronavirus with more than 1,000 deaths and more than 19,000 positive cases.
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Wu is Shanghai SIPG’s all-time leading goalscorer with more than 100 goals. He left China for Spain last winter, and has a huge following back home where Chinese fans stay up late to watch his games on TV.
So far this season, he has made 38 appearances for Espanyol, scoring seven goals in all competitions before the season – and most of Europe’s football campaigns – were cut short because of the pandemic.
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