Football superstar Lionel Messi has paid tribute to healthcare workers on his social media, calling them heroes protecting people from the coronavirus. "Yesterday the World Health Worker Week came to an end and, together with @unicef, I want to express my deepest gratitude for the work they do. For continuing, despite everything, their noble commitment to caring for pregnant women, and keeping children and adolescents protected", Messi wrote in an Instagram post
World Health Worker week is an annual event that has been organised by the World Health Organisation since 2013. The global health watchdog said that this year’s theme is aimed at highlighting how medical workers put themselves at risk by trying to save and protect other people’s lives.
While Messi’s native Argentina is coping relatively well with the coronavirus with 2,208 cases and 95 deaths, Spain, where the 32-year-old plays for Barcelona, has the second-highest number of cases after the United States.
At the end of March, the 32-year-old star of Barcelona and the club’s other players agreed to cut their salaries by 70 percent in order to help Barca weather out the suspension caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The players have also agreed to make contributions to the club’s staff and employees so that they earn full salaries during the lockdown.