AARON RAMSDALE has been wracking his brain for the last two days trying to work out how the hell he got coronavirus.
The Bournemouth stopper’s bloods had come back negative from the first round of testing last Monday.
Aaron Ramsdale is backing a return to football action despite having had coronavirus
Despite that all-clear result, the 22-year-old remained as ultra-cautious as he has been throughout lockdown.
His conclusion is he must have picked it up from a trip down the shops — showing just how easy it is for any of us to catch this stealthy disease.
Speaking via Zoom, Ramsdale told SunSport: “I’ve been trying to figure it out for the past two days.
“My test last Monday before we started training was negative.
“So this last week, I’ve done the usual things like going to the supermarket and going to the petrol station to fill my car up.
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“Once you’ve contracted the virus, it shows in your blood.
“That was obviously not the case (after the first test) and it’s been the three days between the two tests when I’ve contracted the virus.
“I’ve been just as careful as before on lockdown and it seems to be a shopping trip where I’ve caught it.”
Ramsdale was back in training like all Bournemouth’s players last week having passed that initial test.
That fact rules out the possibility he contracted it while saving shots from his parents during lockdown at his old football club back home in the north of England.
The Cherries stopper thinks he caught the virus at the shops
That was where the keeper had been staying for the majority of the enforced break before returning to the South Coast for the resumption of training.
It also chalks off the chances he picked it up while doing a charity bike ride with agency World in Motion to raise thousands for the NHS earlier this month — as that also happened prior to the first test.
The Cherries have been hot on adhering to the government-set guidelines on social distancing during training, which is why Ramsdale is certain he did not catch it there.
On Friday afternoon, he had the second of his bi-weekly tests and it was that procedure which returned the shock results.
The England Under-21 keeper explained: “You don’t leave your car, you pull up to a bay and get tested.
Ramsdale has been working out at his Bournemouth home during lockdown where he has been staying with his girlfriend
“We’ve trained but we’re under strict rules to be two metres apart.
“Ours is a club that don’t want to be breaking rules and we want to be doing everything properly to get back.
“If we break rules, then we can put the other lads in danger. So we’re all well away from each other.
“It was one of those freak things.
“I’m healthy, I’ve got all my taste and smell, and all the things that are linked to the virus.
“It’s definitely a shock and one that I’ve got to deal with.
“Now I have seven days’ isolation at home which will give me time to do things around the house.
“It’s not ideal, obviously, with training. But it’s just one of those things.”
Ramsdale is now staying in his Bournemouth home with his girlfriend, who has been with him throughout lockdown.
She had a test on Sunday and they are awaiting the results — but the pair presume she has it, too.
Ramsdale’s team-mates and staff have rallied around him, with many offering to help in any way they can.
He added: “The club have been fantastic.
“The players and especially the staff have been saying if we need anything to just ask. Things like shopping, they’ll leave it at the door.
“We’re being well looked after. I just have to make sure I stay healthy and positive.
“My girlfriend has been with me the whole time, so it will be a very strange one if she hasn’t contracted it. But we’ll have to wait and see.
“We’re isolating together, so at least there’s a bit of company.”
Ramsdale told talkSPORT earlier this month that he was behind Project Restart — so long as matches could be guaranteed to be played in a safe environment.
He remains of that view and if his recovery goes as hoped, he will be back in good time to help Bournemouth in their battle to stay up.
The player affectionately known as ‘Rambo’ said: “I still stand by what I said, that when it’s definitely safe, I’d be all for it.
“Seeing how our staff and our training ground is working at the moment, it does give you a feeling that everything is being taken to the smallest detail to be done properly.
“In that sense, you do feel very safe in training.
“But this isn’t a football-related thing that has happened to me. It’s in everyday life. You do see people who are worried about it and they’ve got every right to be.
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“So I’m still on the fence. But once it is safe to get back to, then I’m all for it.”
Were it not for the pandemic, Ramsdale would have been preparing to play for the England Under-21s at the Toulon Tournament at the start of next month.
The ambitious keeper, who captained Aidy Boothroyd’s side against Holland in November, even had an eye on making a late run at Gareth Southgate’s Euros squad.
He added: “There were two tournaments which I could have potentially been involved in, obviously with the decisions out of my hands.
“The time in Holland with England seems years ago.
“It will be good to get back at it and try to go for it again.
“But obviously the health and safety of other people comes first and we go from there.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
