Eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt tests positive for COVID-19

The world’s fastest man is currently in quarantine at his home in Jamaica after testing positive for COVID-19, days after celebrating his 34th birthday party with other sports personalities. The news was confirmed by the country’s health minister, Dr. Christopher Tufton and Usain Bolt was formally made aware of the result.

England and Manchester City star Raheem Sterling was also present at the party and questions were raised whether the English international was also affected. But on Tuesday, it was confirmed that Sterling has tested negative after undergoing a test in Jamaica.

The negative result also made it certain that he is most likely to be named in England’s UEFA Nations League squad and within a few hours his selection was confirmed. Bolt, who won the Olympic gold medal eight times revealed that he had been self-isolating via a video he uploaded on both his Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Bolt, in his video said, “Just waking up, and like everybody else, I checked social media which is saying I am confirmed to have COVID-19. I am trying to be responsible and so I am going to stay in and stay here for my friends. I am going to quarantine myself and wait on the confirmation to see what is the protocol and how I should go about quarantining myself.” The video had a caption that read, “Stay safe ppl,” with a prayer emoji.

The world-record holder retired after the World Athletics Championships in 2017 and is hailed as the best sprinter in the world. Bolt may have tested positive but he confirmed that he showed no symptoms and that is a huge positive for his fans. Usually, people who test positive but barely show symptoms are said to recover faster than people who show it.

However, the precautions and the protocols do not discriminate between either of them and hence, only time will tell how fast will the Jamaican get normal.

featured image credits- Xinhua Press Corp