Sturgill Simpson says he fell ill nearly a month ago but couldn’t get tested for COVID-19, despite recent travel in Europe.
In a post on Instagram, Simpson tells his saga of getting sick with coronavirus but being refused a test. He had a fever, chest pain and high blood pressure but says he was told in the emergency room he didn’t fit the testing criteria.
That was March 13, when testing kits were still in short supply.
The country musician got better, but still had concerns. So he and his wife went to a drive-thru testing center in Nashville on April 6th. Weeks after symptoms went away, he tested positive for COVID-19 and is now continuing to quarantine in his “dojo” (semi-explained in this recent post) until April 19.
Nashville’s music community has already been hit by COVID-19. Simpson was close friends with songwriter John Prine, who died after more than a week on a ventilator at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“You reminded me so much of my Grandfather it hurt sometimes. I never told you that,” Simpson wrote in an Instagram memorial post.
Country artist Joe Diffie also died from the coronavirus after a very brief illness. Singer-songwriter Kalie Schorr, who is 25, recovered after getting sick in late March but described on Twitter being seriously ill and losing her ability to taste and smell.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-2Yv4WFcvA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM