Mikel Arteta: Missed hugging the people I love

Mikel Arteta

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who has "completely recovered" from COVID-19, believes people should be "emotionally more open" after the Coronavirus pandemic. Arteta, 38, tested positive for the virus on March 12 but has since recovered after self-isolating. "We are in a world here where everything is social media, everything is a WhatsApp text," Arteta was quoted as saying by BBC Sports. "But how important is touching each other, feeling each other and hugging each other? I miss that with a lot of the people I love. We have to be emotionally more open. We have to tell each other what we are feeling," he added.

"We cannot just in two or three months' time - if we are able to get over this quickly - forget about this, because it's so important." He reported feeling unwell after it was confirmed Evangelos Marinakis - the owner of Greek side Olympiakos, who played Arsenal in the Europa League in February - had Coronavirus on March 10. Arteta said his main concern was his three children after his wife and their nanny contracted the virus.

"In terms of symptoms, it was a normal virus for me. I had three or four days which were a little bit difficult, with a bit of a temperature and a dry cough, and some discomfort in my chest. That was it. The difficulty is that I have people at home, three kids as well and I was worried. My missus has been through it and our nanny's been through it. I am feeling completely recovered [now]...," he told the club website. '

"We are living in a unique situation, so I think all of us are trying to react to the situation that is coming on a daily basis and trying our best to overcome the situation.

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