Grammy-winning country singer Sturgill Simpson revealed that he has tested positive for coronavirus a month after going to an emergency room with symptoms.
In an Instagram post, Simpson says he and his band were on tour in Western Europe and southeastern parts of the U.S. from the end of January to the beginning of March. The tour was canceled on March 12, and the next day, he went to the hospital with chest pains, a fever and pre-stroke levels of high blood pressure.
“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 said.
Nearly a month later on April 6, Simpson and his wife got tests at a free, drive-through facility, and on Friday, Simpson’s test came back positive. His wife tested negative despite being around him since his tour.
“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 said.
Simpson, who is now halfway through a two-week quarantine, took one last shot at President Trump and how he’s handled the country’s response to COVID-19.
“At least our government-appointed task force headed by a man who does not believe in science is against mass testing,” he said. “And we now have a second task force in the works to ‘open America back up for business!’”