Country singer Sturgill Simpson reveals he tested positive for COVID-19
Sturgill Simpson revealed Saturday in an Instagram post that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The 41-year-old country star said he got the positive results back on Friday, despite not having had symptoms for nearly a month.
He described first seeking medical help on March 13 and being denied a test, before finally finding a free drive-through testing site on April 6.
Infected: Sturgill Simpson, 41, revealed on Saturday in an Instagram post that he had tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday. He first showed symptoms in mid-March; shown in 2017
Simpson’s photo was taken on March 13, when his wife took him to their local hospital’s emergency room.
The singer looked weary as he took a selfie while lying on a bed with a surgical mask covering his face.
He began his caption by describing his tour, which took his band through Western Europe in January and early February, before resuming in the United States along the East Coast from February through mid-March.
Simpson went to the hospital on March 13 after developing ‘chest pains, fever, and pre-stroke blood pressure levels.’
Bad call: Simpson described being denied a test on March 13, despite having many of the symptoms, because he had been in Western Europe, which a doctor incorrectly believed hadn’t experienced the virus yet
Fighting spirit: Sturgill was optimistic about recovering and shared a meme from Bloodsport (1988) with a fighter labeled COVID-19 being blocked by Jean-Claude Van Damme, who was labeled ‘People who eat a**’
‘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 fumed.
It wasn’t until April 6th that he and his wife were able to be tested at a free drive-through site.
When he received the results on Friday, Simpson tested positive, though his wife ws negative, despite having been on tour with him the whole time.
The outspoken singer also got in a dig at President Donald Trump’s controversial daily White House briefings
‘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.
Getting a dig in: The outspoken singer also criticized Donald Trump’s controversial daily press briefings; pictured in November
Rocking out: Prior to the cancellation of his remaining tour dates, Simpson was joined by fellow modern Outlaw Country singer Tyler Childers; shown in 2018
‘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 added.
‘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”!’
Despite being under the weather, Sturgill was optimistic about recovering, and he shared a meme from Bloodsport (1988) with a fighter labeled as COVID-19 being blocked by Jean-Claude Van Damme, who was labeled ‘People who eat a**.’
Gone too soon: Sturgill shared some of his thoughts about his late friend and mentor John Prine after the country legend’s death this week
Prior to the cancellation of his remaining tour dates, Simpson was joined by fellow modern Outlaw Country singer Tyler Childers.
He previously released his fourth album Sound & Fury in September, which departed from his usual psychedelic country style by going in a hard rock direction.
The occasional actor also had a small part in the recently released horror/thriller The Hunt.