Olympic silver medallist Marcio Araujo in COVID-19 battle

RIO DE JANEIRO: Olympic beach volleyball silver medallist Marcio Araujo said on Saturday that he is battling COVID-19 from home after being turned away from overwhelmed hospitals in Brazil's northeastern city of Fortaleza.

Araujo posted a photo of himself on Instagram, wearing a face mask and holding a sign with the words "I will recover, God willing."

"Unfortunately I have been infected with the coronavirus," he said in a brief message accompanying the image, reports Xinhua news agency.

The 46-year-old spoke about his ordeal in a conversation with Brazilian volleyball website, Web Volei.

"I'm not very well," he said. "I came home from the hospital because there are no intensive care beds. I'm breathing very badly, hoping to improve."

Araujo won the silver medal in the men's beach volleyball competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, partnering Fabio Magalhaes.

The pair had earlier secured the gold medal at the 2005 world championships in Berlin, Germany.

Olympic silver medallist Marcio Araujo in COVID-19 battle

Brazil is the worst-affected South American nation by the coronavirus outbreak with more than 150,000 confirmed cases and over 10,600 deaths to date.

Previously, Cruzeiro President Jose Dalai Rocha had said he is recovering well after becoming the third club official to be infected by COVID-19. IANS