West Brom have been forced to deny that their striker Charlie Austin contracted coronavirus having attended the Cheltenham Festival.
The 30-year-old told The Telegraph he was forced to self-isolate having shown symptoms connected with COVID-19.
He says he has had no face-to-face contact with his own family since last Saturday after contacting the West Brom club doctor Kevin Conrod.
Austin's remained alone in a family bedroom since calling Conrod, and says he was feverish with a temperature of 39.7 degrees.
"I felt like someone had chucked a bucket of water over me. I was soaking", he told the paper.
"Before I started feeling the symptoms on Saturday I was on the phone to my wife Bianca’s mother and I said to her that I hoped if anyone in our family got it that it would be me.
"I felt like I was fit and healthy and I could handle it. A week later and I would say to anyone, even those in their 20s and 30s, ‘Don’t take it lightly – it’s serious'".
West Brom say Austin has not tested positive for COVID-19 and has made a full recovery from his symptoms with the former Southampton striker adding, "It was sensible advice to self-isolate from the rest of the lads and from my family during this period. I’ve now made a full recovery."
The response in the UK has drawn criticism from within and without the country, with schools only closing there in the latter part of this week.
Writer David Riley shared pictures from the London Underground early on Friday with Tube carriages still packed with people.
This was my commute to work in London this morning @BorisJohnson. This is what you get on London underground when you reduce the service but people still have to go to work. There was a lot of coughing too.
How do we stay safe in this environment?#CoronaVirusUpdate pic.twitter.com/wT345MEjND— David Riley (@DRileyamusing) March 20, 2020
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally ordered the closure of pubs, cafes, restaurants and gyms in the country from midnight to stop the spread of the virus.
Austin has warned that COVID-19 is something people of his age should be taken seriously, "I get that people who haven’t got it are going about their lives.
"Last week, I was living my life. Not that I didn’t take coronavirus seriously. But this is extremely serious and we should take it that way."
