Davide Zappacosta reveals how he caught Covid and insists the Genoa outbreak could have happened to any other team.
“It all begun with Mattia Perin who had tested negative the day before he had symptoms,” the Chelsea loanee told L’Equipe.
“He was sent to isolation as soon as he tested negative but by that time, he had already contaminated someone in the dressing room.
Davide Zappacosta reveals how he caught Covid and insists the Genoa outbreak could have happened to any other team.
“It all begun with Mattia Perin who had tested negative the day before he had symptoms,” the Chelsea loanee told L’Equipe.
“He was sent to isolation as soon as he tested negative but by that time, he had already contaminated someone in the dressing room.
“That’s how it all begun. The following swabs we had afterwards all came back negative even if some of us, me included, had already contracted the virus.”
Perin and Lasse Schone were the first Genoa players to test positive and didn’t travel to Napoli where Genoa faced a heavy 6-0 defeat.
“We had no choice, we had to go to Napoli because the game had been confirmed,” continued Zappacosta.
“The build-up to the game was complicated. We had swabs at 1am the night before the game and we took the plane in the morning. I didn’t sleep well and I didn’t feel good although I had no fever. The game was tough also because Napoli are a stronger side.”
Genoa have now 22 confirmed cases of Covid in the team, 17 of whom are footballers: “We used to have swabs every three days and an antibody blood test once a week. Trouble is, you can be negative on Monday, do the test and Tuesday and find out you are positive on Thursday. In the meantime, you have spent three days with the rest of the team.
“Swabs are not as accurate. It could have happened to any other team. It happened with Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Milan but he didn’t contaminate anyone. Maybe Perin’s viral load was higher.”
The 28-year-old insisted new measures must be taken in the future.
“The risk is high, people think we should live barricaded, but we also have family and young kids. If the risk is high new solutions must be found. One can get the virus anywhere, also at the gas station.”