Los Angeles Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth says he and his family are doing well after testing positive for COVID-19.
Whitworth said Tuesday that his entire family, including his wife, Melissa, and four children — ages 9 to 5, as well as his 66-year-old in-laws — contracted the virus after the family was exposed via their nanny starting in mid-June.
“For us, luckily, and the blessing of our kids and Melissa and her mom, it was a very short process,” Whitworth said. “And something where we were all healthy immediately in that 10-14 thing they all talk about.”
Whitworth’s father-in-law was hospitalized for five days, but has since been released and is home “doing really well,” Melissa said.
Andrew and Melissa experienced what Melissa described as “very, very mild” symptoms.
“Basically, I had sinus allergies for a day or two, so I didn’t really think anything about it until the taste thing, I lost my taste,” Andrew said. “I lost that for like three days, that’s really the only symptom I really had.”
Their kids also experienced a variety of symptoms, including gastrointestinal issues and fevers, Melissa said.
The Whitworths were initially exposed to the virus after their live-in nanny returned to their home following a visit with a friend at a San Diego restaurant, where a coronavirus outbreak occurred. She later tested positive for the virus.
Whitworth said his family has now tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies.
As the Rams prepare to report to training camp next week, Whitworth — who is 38 and entering his 15th NFL season — said his family’s experience has provided greater understanding about the challenges presented by the novel coronavirus.
“It opened our eyes to how contagious this is and in some ways it doesn’t necessarily make me not think the season can happen, I’m still positive, I think we can do everything possible to get this thing going,” Whitworth said, “but it does give me a little bit of insight to — if it’s that contagious and it’s that easy to get it, I think that there’s — it just takes one day… just [one] living decision — you decide to have lunch with a friend and just happened to be around the wrong person — can end up being something that can affect, obviously in our little world of football, when you get in that locker room and how tight of a space you’re talking about, can spready rapidly.”
The NFL and NFL Players Associations have agreed to a testing protocol when players report to camp that requires players and employees to test negative for the virus twice before they are allowed into the facility. Players will then be tested daily for COVID-19 for the first two weeks of training camp.
In its latest update on COVID-19 testing results, the NFLPA said Tuesday that 95 players in the league have known positive tests.
A total of 72 NFL players were known to have tested positive the last time the NFLPA updated its database, on July 10.
Source : ESPN
