Charles Barkley Tests Negative for Coronavirus After Feeling Sick and Self-Quarantining
Charles Barkley has tested negative for coronavirus after going into “self-quarantine” as a precaution.
The 57-year-old’s negative diagnosis was announced by Turner Sports PR in a statement released on Twitter on Monday.
“I’ve received my COVID-19 test results this morning and they are negative,” the statement said. “I’d like to thank everyone for reaching out and expressing your concern and support. You all be safe and please take the necessary actions to help ensure your well-being.”
The former basketball player called into TNT’s The Crossover on March 12 to let fans know he’d fallen ill, explaining that he had since taken COVID-19 test on the advice of doctors and isolated himself from the public as he awaited the results.
“I spent the earlier part of the week in New York City. When I got to Atlanta yesterday, I wasn’t feeling well,” Barkley recalled. “I talked to a couple people at Turner and a couple doctors and they told me to self-quarantine for the next 48 hours. I started yesterday, this is my second day.”
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“I haven’t been feeling great and they didn’t want me to take any chances,” the Inside the NBA analyst continued. “I went and took the coronavirus test late this afternoon, I have not gotten the results back. So I’m just kinda in limbo right now.”
He added, “I’m really hoping it was just a bug.”
Barkley’s announcement came just two days after appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, in which he told host Stephen Colbert that the coronavirus outbreak had then “not at all” affected his daily life.
“[It’s] unfortunate that some people passed away and some people are sick, but you can’t stop living your life,” he said.
While on the late-night talk show, Barkley also questioned whether or not the fans should attend basketball games — which have since been canceled by the NBA — amid the global health crisis.
“If they don’t come to games, are they not going to live their lives? Are they not going to go to work? Are they not going to go out and have dinner and things like that?” Barkley mused. “Just not coming to a basketball game, I don’t think that’s going to solve all the issues.”
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