Reports: Paulo Dybala still positive for COVID-19 over a month after diagnosis

After Juventus announced that Daniele Rugani and Blaise Matuidi had been given the all-clear when it came to their respective positive coronavirus tests last month, the general question that arose was easy: OK, so what about Paulo Dybala?

We’ve waited days for something to be posted on Juventus’ website. And now that it’s been exactly two weeks since Dybala’s teammates were given a clean bill of health, it’s a little odd that we still have yet to hear anything to say that Dybala is 100 percent healthy again.

There’s a good reason for that.

Dybala’s still not completely out of the coronavirus hex.

This was first reported late Tuesday by Spanish television program El Chiringuito (via Football Italia) and subsequently confirmed by Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio and Max Nerozzi of Corriere Torino on Wednesday morning. As Di Marzio points out, Dybala is still in home isolation with his girlfriend as he closes in on the 40-day mark since his original positive test was announced on March 21. Dybala is “fine,” according to Di Marzio — which is a good sign seeing as Juve’s No. 10 and his girlfriend look to have added a four-legged friend to their household this past weekend. (If you’re going to be in home isolation for a while, you might as well have a buddy, right?)

It was a little over a month between Rugani and Matuidi each given their clean bills of health. And while all indications tell us that Dybala is on his way to be 100 percent, the fact that it’s been nearly six weeks now just shows how unpredictable this virus can be even if you aren’t dealing with major symptoms.

Dybala has posted on social media that he is working out at his Turin home, so he has at least been able to do some sort of physical activity as he recovers from COVID-19.

However, what makes it all the more interesting of a situation is the fact that we’re getting closer and closer to the first weekend in May where some of Italy’s lockdown restrictions will start to be lifted and players will start making their way back to both Turin and the club’s training grounds in relatively short order come May 4. As far as we know right now, Serie A clubs will be able to start training again — albeit in small groups — come May 18, with the hope being that some sort of resumption of the 2019-20 season can take place in early June.

Juventus has not issued any kind of public statement regarding Dybala’s current health status as of this writing.

But as the days go by both this week and next while the possibility of players training in small groups remain possible come the middle of May, Dybala’s health status — along with just about every other player out there — will be one of the first things we will want to know about on a daily basis.