John Calipari says he had COVID-19 breakthrough case over the summer

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Kentucky men’s basketball head coach John Calipari revealed he tested positive for COVID-19 over the summer.

Calipari made the announcement during a preseason news conference Tuesday morning. He said he was vaccinated early on, but he tested positive over the summer.

He said he quarantined from his wife, Ellen, and she never tested positive.

Calipari explained why he wanted to wait to make his diagnosis public.

“I will tell you that I did not want to discourage anyone to say, ‘well now, he got it. So why would I take it?’ It doesn’t matter. My symptoms were so mild, that I was good. Okay, I had some aches and pains and stuff. Never got a fever, never got the headache, nothing. But I was positive,” Calipari said.

Calipari said he knows of several people with breakthrough cases. He said none of them were very sick because they chose to get vaccinated.