Cristiano Ronaldo Covid update: Juventus finally confirms negative test result

Juventus FC has finally announced that their star forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, has recovered from the novel coronavirus disease on Friday, October 30. Ronaldo tested positive for COVID-19 on October 13 while on international duty with the Portuguese National Team. He has since returned to Turin from Lisbon, and spent his recovery period isolating in his home.

In a statement posted on the Juventus website, the club said, "Cristiano Ronaldo carried out a check with a diagnostic test (swab) for Covid 19. The exam provided a negative result. The player has, therefore, recovered after 19 days and is no longer subjected to home isolation."

The club did not specify if and when Ronaldo will be allowed to rejoin his teammates for training. He has been showing off his personal training videos from isolation and has been demonstrating that he is in good health despite testing positive for Covid-19.

In a controversial move, the 5-time Ballon d'Or winner criticised the coronavirus testing measures after he was not cleared to play against FC Barcelona in the club's UEFA Champions League group stage match on Wednesday earlier this week. In an Instagram post, he shared a photo of himself appearing to be in good health and commented that "PCR is Bulls**t."

The comment was quickly deleted but not before it was spotted by many of his millions of followers. It did not escape the eye of Italian virologist Roberto Burioni, who sarcastically called Ronaldo their new "colleague" in the field of infectious diseases. "Allow me to welcome our new colleague Cristiano Ronaldo to the ranks of the virologist community. He'll be very handy when we play the optometrists at five-a-side," he said.

A lot of controversies have been surrounding Ronaldo's diagnosis. His sister, Katia Aveiro, also made controversial comments on social media, saying that the pandemic or matters related to it is the "biggest fraud" she has seen.

Ronaldo was also placed under investigation for what could have been an unauthorised flight back to Turin in an air ambulance following his diagnosis.

Juventus will be facing Spezia in the Serie A on Sunday and it is unclear if Ronaldo will be available.