Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets’ positive covid-19 test earlier this week threw La Roja’s preparations for Euro 2020 into chaos. Busquets could have caught coronavirus from a close contact in his family; or not. He also could have been infected upon his arrival in Madrid; or not. The origin can’t be determined, but what can be determined, according to Marca, is that the Spanish Football Federation complied with protocol.
Busquets was last with said contact on May 30th, with them beginning to feel symptoms on June 3rd. They tested negative but symptoms didn’t subside, with a second test coming back positive by Friday. Busquets immediately informed the Spanish Football Federation, but didn’t meet the criteria to self-isolate.
By the time Busquets arrived in Madrid, he hadn’t been in contact with the aforementioned positive for five days, a time frame in which he had passed six covid-19 tests between PCRs and antigens. His positive came last Sunday, outside the timeframe that would have meant he was infected by the aforementioned contact; most likely.
For this reason, the Spanish Football Federation are calm; they complied with the protocol laid down by the authorities at all times and were strict with the bubble. The dining system, where players eat outdoors and completely alone, has been criticised for its severeness, while the squad haven’t had days off like teams like Sweden, England and Portugal have. It just goes to show how difficult to control the virus is.
