Coronavirus: Vishwanathan Anand self isolates himself in Germany

Vishwanathan Anand has self-isolated himself in Germany where he was supposed to participate in the Bundesliga Chess tournament and was scheduled to return on 16 March.

The sports world has come to a standstill due to the outbreak of coronavirus and many events are being canceled considering the safety reasons of the players and the audience. The five-time world champion was playing for SC Baden OOO in Bundesliga but forced to stay back in self-isolation without even getting to play in the tournament.

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"This is a very unusual experience for me. For the first time in my life and many others as well, I am forced to self isolate myself," Anand told The Times of India. Given the circumstances, Anand's wife is clearly worried about the 50-year-old being all alone in a foreign state.

"I feel awful that he is there. But we have to be thankful that his situation is better than many people who are stranded. We miss having him here and keep telling him to eat well, ventilate and of course wash hands. I hope he returns to India by the end of this month," Aruna said.

Given the whole day in his hand, Anand finally gets the time to communicate to many of his friends who also supposedly have a lot of time with the outbreak being a serious concern now. "I am sitting with a lot of time on my hand and so are my friends around the world due to the Covid-19 outbreak. For the first time, we have the possibility to communicate with friends over the internet and it's nice to do that. Besides that, I go for a nice long walk once or twice a day. If I meet someone on the way, I ensure to keep a few meters of separation at least."

(With inputs from PTI)