Lokomotiv Moscow FC’s Peruvian striker Farfan undergoes follow-up tests for COVID-19
The 35-year-old footballer from Peru was the first player of the Russian Premier League to have tested positive for the virus, according to official statistics
MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. Russian football club Lokomotiv Moscow’s Peruvian forward Jefferson Farfan, who was diagnosed in mid-May with COVID-19, currently undergoes follow-up tests for the novel coronavirus, the club’s press office announced to TASS on Thursday.
The 35-year-old footballer from Peru was the first player of the Russian Premier League (RPL) to have tested positive for the virus. Cases of COVID-19 among players from other clubs were reported later.
"Farfan is feeling well and is currently undergoing a procedure of obligatory follow-up tests after his treatment for COVID-19 in order to join the team," Lokomotiv Moscow FC’s press office reported.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko stated on Tuesday that football matches of the 2019/2020 season of the Russian Premier League (RPL), which were earlier put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would be resumed two days earlier than the previously announced date of June 21.
Prior to the RPL shutdown, the league’s clubs completed 22 out of 30 scheduled rounds of the championship. On April 1, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) recommended restarting national football tournaments.
After 22 rounds of the 2019/2020 season of the Russian Championship, Zenit St. Petersburg FC ranks first in the national tournament’s standings with 50 points, while Krasnodar FC is third with 41 points following Lokomotiv Moscow FC, which also has 41 points.
COVID-19
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 6,586,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 388,200 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 3,181,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.