Sturgill Simpson Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Sturgill Simpson has tested positive for COVID-19. The country singer, whose 2016 album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth won the Best Country Album Grammy, revealed his condition on Instagram, all while detailing why he think he has been battling it for a month without a diagnosis. Simpson, 41, toured Europe at the start of the year then around the U.S. in February and March. The tour was put on hold on March 12, and the next day saw the “Turtles All the Way Down” singer experiencing severe symptoms, but he still could not get tested for the coronavirus.

“Ok since they are in short supply these days here are some facts… We were on tour in Western Europe for two weeks late Jan /early Feb..then up and down the southeast/eastern US playing arena shows mid Feb to early March. We played Charleston, SC on March 10 and they pulled the plug on our tour March 12 and I returned home,” he wrote alongside a selfie taken in a medical facility. “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. 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.”

On Monday, Simpson and his wife were able to receive tests. It turns out, Simpson was positive for the illness after all. However, a curious detail is that Simpson’s wife tested negative, despite being around him for months. He went on the reveal he was now quarantining himself until April 19, and then took a shot at the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic.

“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. My wife (who has been by my side since Europe) tested negative,” he wrote. “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.

“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. … 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’! Dick Daddy out.”