Testament's Chuck Billy, who himself is recovering from a coronavirus diagnosis, gave an update on his recent tour mate, Death Angel's Will Carroll, who is also suffering from coronavirus complications, and it did not seem like a positive update.
Yesterday, we learned Billy was recovering from being infected with COVID-19, or the coronavirus, while Death Angel drummer Will Carroll, who was on the same European tour as Billy, is still in the hospital. Death Angel put out a new statement thanking fans for their "incredible" support but also asking that they respect the band's and the family of Will Carroll's privacy as he recovers.
Billy appeared on the March 26th edition of Trunk Nation on SiriusXM, and offered some more details on how they got infected on their recent European tour. He revealed that Carroll is currently on a ventilator.
"Will had to go to the hospital," Chuck said. "He's in ICU on a ventilator right now… I believe he was the first one to test positive [for COVID-19], and then myself and a couple of crew guys. And I know Gary and his wife tested; I think they're still waiting for the results. But a lot of us [experienced] the same feeling — just feeling really tired, body aching, chest tight and short of breath. And we all kind of had the same feeling, so we were just waiting for the first one to get the results to back to realize, if it's the same thing, we probably all might have it. So we're just waiting on Gary's [results] now. The other [Testament] guys — Alex [Skolnick] and Gene [Hoglan] and Eric [Peterson] — all three of those guys feel just fine; they haven't had any of the symptoms."
Unfortunately, Billy added they've been unable to trace who got the first infection.
"We've tried to trace it," he said. "We were asking questions, and they still don't have a lot of the answers for it. They don't know how long the contagious period is. They don't know when you get it and when you become contagious. We were lucky enough that nobody was really feeling ill on the road. I believe it was right when we were leaving [Europe] to come home — it was that last day, I believe, and maybe just the airport exposure; I'm not sure. Eric went a different way, so he didn't get sick. So did Gene — he didn't get sick. And so did Alex — he stayed at another hotel. So the rest of us, maybe when we traveled through the airport, I don't know if we got ill then. Or maybe we contracted it that [last] night — it's just hard to say. You can't really put a finger on it. But we do know that we were feeling fine in Europe. It's just once we got home, within that 24-hour window, among all three bands, we were all talking to each other and people were feeling ill. So I would think maybe the last couple of days of the tour, maybe we all contracted it somewhere."
According to Chuck, "at least a third" of the musicians and road crew traveling on "The Bay Strikes Back 2020" tour were presented with some symptoms of the new coronavirus. "Everybody is getting tested and still feeling [ill]… Nobody's been as sick as, I think, we were, but I would say a third of us, out of all three bands, with the crews and bandmembers, feel sick. Once we get some more results back, I'm sure more people will start talking about it."
I don't want to ring any alarms, but with Carroll being in the ICU for over a week now, based on what Gary Holt said this weekend – and being put on a ventilator, the longer he's on the vent, the higher the risk that he does not recover.
We are hoping for the best and sending all the positive vibes to the Carroll and Death Angel families.
[via Blabbermouth]
