Sturgill Simpson reveals positive coronavirus test, slams White House press briefings as 'pure speculation'
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Country singer Sturgill Simpson revealed that he tested positive for COVID-19 and criticized doctors and the government’s response after he struggled to get tested for a month.
The 41-year-old country singer recently returned from a European tour that took place in January and February. The remainder of his tour was called off March 12 due to the pandemic. He explained that by March 13, he was in the hospital after complaining to his wife about chest pains, a fever and pre-stroke blood pressure levels. The star even shared a selfie he took looking sleepy on a hospital bed with a surgical mask covering his face.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Simpson explained that he struggled to get tested for the coronavirus for weeks despite showing symptoms and having recently traveled through a series of large gatherings at his concerts in Europe.
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“I spent an hour listening to a (highly condescending) Doctor refuse to test me because I ‘did not fit testing criteria’ and tell me why it was impossible that I had contracted the virus due to its extreme rarity and that it was not in western Europe yet during that same period (which we now know is incorrect) even though I was told by two nurses that I was the first person their hospital had walk in requesting to be tested,” he wrote in the image’s lengthy caption.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Country singer Sturgill Simpson tested positive for coronavirus. (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AFI)
“Almost one month later on April 6th my wife and I were both tested after finally finding a free drive-thru testing facility outside a National Guard depot. Yesterday on Friday April 10th, after almost one month without any symptoms, I received a call from the Nashville CDC stating that my test resulted in a positive detection for Covid-19,” Simpson continued. “My wife (who has been by my side since Europe) tested negative.”
The country singer then set his sights on the daily White House press briefings, which he said were uninformed based on what a nurse at the CDC told him.
“I should also add that the CDC nurse I spoke to yesterday told me that it reacts differently in a case by case basis and the White House briefings and the information they are providing is basically pure speculation causing fear and that the only thing anybody knows is that we don’t really know much yet,” he wrote.
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He ended his post on a lighter note, explaining to his followers that he is will be self-isolating for the next few days and lambasting Donald Trump’s decision to put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the country’s coronavirus response.
“All I know is I first felt symptoms a month ago yet Im still positive and contagious and now on quarantine in the dojo until April 19th and really wishing Id taken my wife’s advice and put a bathroom in the floor plans..live and learn,” he wrote. “But hey, at least our Government appointed task force headed by a man who does not believe in science is against mass testing and we now have a second task force in the works to ‘open America back up for business’!”
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As of Monday morning, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 1,860,011 people across 185 countries and territories, resulting in over 114,983 deaths. In the U.S., all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have reported confirmed cases of COVID-19, tallying over 557,590 illnesses and at least 22,109 deaths.