Grammy winner Sturgill Simpson has revealed that he has tested positive for COVID-19 nearly one month after he first started showing symptoms. The country music star says he struggled to get tested for the virus, but once he was able to get a test the results were positive.
In a lengthy Instagram post that featured a pic of the musician in a hospital bed wearing a mask, Simpson told his fans that facts were in short supply these days, so he decided to share his experience. He said that he was on tour in Western Europe for two weeks in late January and early February before he returned to the United States for shows on the East Coast.
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Simpson played one show in Charleston, South Carolina, before his tour was cancelled.
“They pulled the plug on our tour March 12 and I returned home. This photo was taken at 9am on March 13th when my wife took me to our local hospital ER due to chest pains, fever, and pre-stroke blood pressure levels,” wrote the Kentucky native.
The Sound and Fury artist said that he spent an hour listening to a “highly condescending” doctor refuse to give him a COVID-19 test because Simpson didn’t fit the testing criteria. Simpson says the doctor also told him that it was impossible that he contracted the virus because it was extremely rare and it wasn’t in Western Europe at that time, even though Simpson says that was incorrect.
Simpson said that two nurses told him he was the first person to ask for a test, but the doctor refused. Nearly one month later, Simpson says he was able to get tested at a free drive-thru testing facility that was located near a National Guard depot.
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After nearly a month without symptoms, Simpson says he received a call from the Nashville CDC to let him know that his test results were positive. However, his wife – who had been with him on tour – tested negative.
Simpson added that the CDC nurse he spoke to told him that the virus reacts differently in a case-by-case basis, and the information provided at the daily White House briefings was “pure speculation.” Simpson said that was causing fear, and the only thing anyone knows is that “we don’t really know much yet.”
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Sturgill Simpson says he first felt symptoms a month ago, yet he was still positive and contagious despite being symptom-free for weeks. He said he would stay in quarantine “in the dojo” until April 19th, and he really wishes he would have listened to his wife and put a bathroom in the floor plans.
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