Juventus defender Daniele Rugani tests positive for coronavirus

Serie A club Juventus announced in a brief press release that defender Daniele Rugani has tested positive for novel coronavirus.

It was only a matter of time before the first major sports player tested positive for novel coronavirus, and according to the latest reports, it’s finally happened.

According to a brief press release from Italian soccer team Juventus, defender Daniele Rugani has tested positive for coronavirus. The Serie A club is activating all the isolation procedures required by law, including for those who have had contact with him.

Serie A play — and all sports in Italy — was recently suspended until the first week of April, given the situation of the pandemic that’s hit the country so hard. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte went as far as calling it the country’s “darkest hour.”

The spread of COVID-19 has hit soccer especially hard worldwide, with Italy calling off all sports including Serie A for a month, UEFA Champions League matches being played behind closed doors, a Premier League match being postponed and closed-door matches or cancellations announced in many other leagues.

It remains to be seen what Serie A’s response will be now that the first player has been confirmed to have coronavirus, but it was only a matter of time before this kind of incident occurred somewhere. This is a pandemic, after all, and it was only Tuesday the Manchester City-Arsenal match was postponed due to Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis testing positive for COVID-19 as well.

Novel coronavirus and COVID-19, the disease it causes, first emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The virus spreads similarly to influenza, with sneezing and coughing as the primary vectors of infection. To date, more than 115,000 cases have been confirmed in more than 70 countries worldwide, including the United States. The World Health Organization declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Jan. 30 and countries have implemented curfews, travel bans and mandatory quarantines to help prevent its spread.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.