Maldini: 'Coronavirus not the ususal flu. On the resumption of Serie A...'
"I'm pretty good. The worst is over. I still have a little dry cough. I have lost taste and small. It Is not the normal flu. I know my body, an athlete knows himself. The pains are particularly severe. And you feel squeezing in your chest. It's a new virus and the body fights against an enemy it does not know," he said.
"I felt the first symptoms on Thursday 5 March - pain in the joints and muscles. Fever: never more than 38 and a half. The next day, Friday, I should have gone to Milanello but I stayed at home. I also missed Milan-Genoa. I only treated myself with accipitrine. I didn't take antivirals because I never had difficulty breathing."
The Milan director went on to speak about his potential contact with the players of the club, as well as the way how exactly he was diagnosed with the virus and the way how his son Daniel is handling the problems.
"I haven't seen the players in 14 days. None of them are positive. We at Milan are very attentive to health, we have many resources, we have agreements with San Raffaele. But we have chosen to strictly follow the rules set by our city, by our region," Maldini said.
"How was I diagnosed? The doctors came, with gloves and masks. No, no diving suit. It was last Tuesday. After two days the verdict arrived: positive. I already knew I have the virus. I felt it was not a flu like any other. Of course, there was a little worry. A friend of mine had respiratory problems, he is hospitalized in Legnano, he does not sleep, he has nightmares. It went better for me. However, I have been confined to my family for eighteen days.
"Daniel? He also has pain and fever, but he is very young. It seems to me that in the family he is the one who has taken it in a lighter form. My wife and Christian have taken the swab and are negative but we are convinced that they too have the virus and have already come out of it."
During the interview, Maldini went beyond the situation of his own and also spoke about the current moment in football. He contemplated that perhaps football should have been stopped earlier and talked through the possibility of Serie A resuming in the near future in order to conclude the league campaign.
"Football had to stop earlier. Already playing behind closed doors is violence, for the fans and it was madness, for the fans and the players. It was madness to play Liverpool-Atletico with 4 thousand Madrid fans in the stands when it was already known that there was an outbreak in Madrid. When Atalanta-Valencia was played, the alarm had not gone off yet but now we know that that evening was one of the main causes of the Bergamo outbreak.
"Serie A? There must be a conclusion and there will be. But we can't say when at the moment. In football, it is impossible not only to play but also to train without contact. And then it is right to put all the teams on the same level. Some, like Sampdoria, are more affected. Some of the most representative players of Juve are positive. We must not be in a hurry. We will not be ready in two days. All players must have time to recover and train. Before returning to play, it will take at least two weeks of preparation," Maldini concluded.