Covid alert in Qatar: Ronaldo warned he has the coronavirus and cannot go on the pitch to watch Brazil’s debut against Serbia

Former Brazilian striker Ronaldo Luís Nazario de Lima contracted Covid and was unable to watch the match that the five-time world champion will play this Thursday against Serbia, his debut at the Qatar 2022 World Cup for the first date of Group G .

“After having symptoms of the disease since Wednesday evening, the diagnosis was confirmed. and I’ll have to stay locked in my room for the next five days,” Ronaldo explained in a message posted on social media.

“I’m fine and from here I will join the ‘crooked’ team,” promised the two-time world champion (United States ’94 and Korea-Japan 2002) and Ballon d’Or in 1997 and 2002 .

Ronaldo, what With 15 celebrations, he is the second all-time goalscorer in World Cup history. (only one distance from the German Miroslav Klose), will remain in the hotel room where he is staying in Doha without being able to attend the premiere of Tite’s “canarinha”.

A special guest of FIFA at this World Cup, the former Brazilian goalscorer was present in the opening match as Ecuador beat Qatar 2-0 on Sunday, but will miss Brazil’s second match against Switzerland on Monday in Group G which complete Cameroon.

The 46-year-old former footballer is currently an important entrepreneur, owner of the Valladolid club in Spain and Cruzeiro in Brazil.

China on alert

Chinese netizens react with frustration to see World Cup supporters in Qatar with very few masks as their country responds to major outbreaks with harsh restrictions that put the patience of the population to the limit.

Cities such as Chongqing (central), Guangzhou (southeast) or the capital Beijing have recently implemented containment measures to try to curb the infections which exceeded 30,000 on Wednesday, a maximum not seen since last April.

The restrictions have severely tested the patience of a citizenry that had supported the majority of the ‘zero covid’ policy in these almost three years, when only a small minority of inhabitants in the places affected by sporadic outbreaks suffered the worst restrictions and the vast majority of the population led a relatively normal life.

However, the current outbreaks have already spread to the provinces, just as millions of Chinese tune in to the World Cup in Qatar to see maskless people in stadiums: “Are we living in parallel universes?” and similar variations are one of the most common comments on the Weibo social network.

“Aren’t there children and the elderly in Qatar?” joked another commentator, referring to users who support the maintenance of the ‘zero covid’ policy and who often accuse those who support the easing of restrictions of not caring about the fate of the weakest .

Urban residents in China have been subjected to several weekly PCR tests since last spring, which are necessary to access public places such as supermarkets, parks or shops and subject to the possibility of being taken to a quarantine place at any time in case of contracting the virus . virus or being a close contact of an infected person, an extreme increasingly likely as the coronavirus spreads.

“Wake up. I see people in the stadium without a mask on television and screaming at the top of their lungs and I can’t even leave the house”, complained a user.

However, there are also many defenders of the containment guideline, one of whom warns: “Don’t be fooled. What you see in the World Cup are people with money who can afford the expenses in case of illness. Furthermore, the most vulnerable abroad they are already dead, which China avoided.”