Bournemouth goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has urged the Premier League restart to go ahead when possible, stating that he feels “safe” at training, despite testing positive for coronavirus.
Professional football has been on hold in England since the middle of March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is confirmed to have infected over 250,000 people in the UK, with close to 37,000 losing their lives.
Despite the crisis, the Premier League is aiming to be back in action by mid-June, although a handful of players have tested positive for the virus while others, such as Watford’s Troy Deeney and Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante, have indicated that they will not return to training at the current time for fear of infection.
Ramsdale has confirmed that he is one of the latest players to have tested positive for the virus, and while he is puzzled by the outcome of the test, he has indicated that he feels a resumption of the 2019-20 season is possible.
“Seeing how our staff and our training ground is working at the moment, it does give you a feeling that everything is being taken to the smallest detail to be done properly. In that sense, you do feel very safe in training,” he told The Sun.
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“But this isn’t a football-related thing that has happened to me. It’s in everyday life. You do see people who are worried about it and they’ve got every right to be.
“So I’m still on the fence. But once it is safe to get back to, then I’m all for it.”
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The 22-year-old admits he was stunned when his test came back positive, making him one of two players to have such a result from a second round of checks.
“I’ve been trying to figure it out for the past two days,” he said.
“My test last Monday before we started training was negative. So this last week, I’ve done the usual things like going to the supermarket and going to the petrol station to fill my car up.
“I’ve been just as careful as before on lockdown and it seems to be a shopping trip where I’ve caught it.
“We’ve trained but we’re under strict rules to be two metres apart. Ours is a club that don’t want to be breaking rules and we want to be doing everything properly to get back.
“It was one of those freak things. I’m healthy, I’ve got all my taste and smell, and all the things that are linked to the virus.
“It’s definitely a shock and one that I’ve got to deal with.”
Watford's Adrian Mariappa is the other player to have confirmed he has contracted the infection.