EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt says that he is exhibiting all the symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
The San Francisco Bay Area-based axeman, who spent most of the past nine years touring with SLAYER , broke the news of his condition earlier today in an Instagram post. He wrote: "So I've been locked away with @lisaholt777 , suffering from all the symptoms of Corona, without the beer! Mildly sick, better today after repeatedly waking up soaked in sweat last night. Self monitoring with my better half, and unfortunately, won't be able to visit my grandkids until I'm symptom free for seven days. Ugh. Movie time, binge watching TV, and waiting this out!"
Holt and the rest of EXODUS recently spent more than a month on the road in Europe with TESTAMENT and DEATH ANGEL as part of "The Bay Strikes Back 2020" tour.
This past Monday (March 16), San Francisco Bay Area officials unveiled aggressive and restrictive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The "shelter in place" order asks nearly seven million residents of six counties in the Bay Area to remain home as much as possible. It will last until April 7.
Early symptoms of COVID-19 include fever and dry cough. Some people also experience fatigue, headaches and, less frequently, diarrhea. Shortness of breath can develop within about five days.
Every third patient in China — the country with the most confirmed cases worldwide — experienced sputum production, which is thick mucus coughed up from the lungs, according to WHO ( World Health Organization ).
Officials have made it clear that the elderly — especially those with heart, lung and immunological conditions — are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, with at least 25 deaths linked to one nursing home in Washington.
In Italy, which has one of the oldest populations in the world, one hundred percent of the people who have died have been over 60, and the vast majority over 80.
According to the Centers For Disease Control And Protection ( CDC ), coronavirus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person — between people who are in close contact with one another (within about six feet), and through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.
