Juventus' Daniele Rugani was one of the first professional footballers to test positive for coronavirus.

It's been over a week since the Italian was confirmed to have the virus which has reached pandemic status, knocking over a series of dominoes that resulted in Serie A being postponed.

His Juventus teammates, including Cristiano Ronaldo, have all gone into self-isolation and it seems unlikely that Italian football will resume any time before the season was originally scheduled to end.

And although Rugani has confirmed that he is 'fine' and his fans should not be concerned about him, there have been worries surrounding his partner Michela Persico.

The young sports journalist has also tested positive for coronavirus and has now revealed that Rugani and herself were ready to announce they were expecting their first child.

Daniele Rugani expecting child

Obviously, in this time of great uncertainty, the situation made Persico incredibly worried about her pregnancy and the potential crisis into which her child could be born.

“I am four months pregnant, so what happens now?” she told magazine Chi, via Football Italia.

“I can’t even talk about it, but we can only wait and see. I hope the virus won’t affect the baby. The doctors assured me there shouldn’t be a problem, but put yourself in my shoes: it’s infinitely frightening.

“Daniele and I were preparing the right moment to announce my pregnancy when he tested positive. It was meant to be a moment of joy. I am sure we’ll get back on our feet.”

The crisis worsens in Italy

It's incredibly reassuring to know that doctors do not believe her diagnosis will impact the baby.

Neither Rugani nor Perisco have shown any symptoms of note, so we can only hope they make a quick recovery and direct all their efforts toward the upcoming birth of their child.

Whether or not the couple will need to remain in lockdown when the date of birth rolls around remains to be seen, but there can be no denying the severity of the situation in Italy.

The country registered the deaths of 2,978 people on Wednesday afternoon, the majority of which were over-70s, and the total is set to surpass that of China, where the virus started. 

Our thoughts and prayers go to everybody in Italy and around the world.