Singer Charlie Puth has announced that he’s tested positive for COVID-19. The singer, who had shared that he was fully vaccinated back in May, isn’t feeling great physically—though he does at least believe he’s now on the mend. “I’m not feeling amazing but I think the worst is behind me,” Puth, 30, wrote on Twitter. “I write you this update, feeling like complete ass, in hopes that you will be safe and careful this holiday season."
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Puth is one of several celebrities to test positive for the virus recently—and many are even on their second bout of the illness. Earlier this week, Doja Cat had to pull out of several performances after testing positive for COVID-19 for a second time. In November, Khloé Kardashian got the virus a second time despite being fully vaccinated, as did Dancing With the Stars competitor and Peloton trainer Cody Rigsby in October.
The most common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, chills, cough, fatigue, muscle and body aches, headache, sore throat, congestion, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath, and loss of taste and smell, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In severe cases, people can experience difficulty breathing, chest pain, loss of color to the lips, inability to wake or stay awake, and confusion—all signs to seek immediate emergency attention.
It’s not clear which variant Puth has. As SELF previously reported, delta remains the dominant variant in the U.S. for the time being, according to comments by CDC director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., MPH. But the omicron variant is spreading rapidly in many areas, and public health experts are predicting yet another surge of infections.
Experts have also learned that the two-dose mRNA vaccines, such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, reportedly have a significantly reduced ability to protect against omicron infection. According to preliminary data, they offer around 33% protection against infection with this variant. However, mRNA vaccines seem to still be much more effective (around 70%) against severe illness and death, based on what we know so far—and a booster shot might improve protection against symptomatic infection to about 75%. (At press time, Puth hadn’t publicly shared whether he’d received a booster shot.)
It’s definitely disheartening to see that the latest worrisome variant is spreading like wildfire and able to evade immunity to a concerning extent. All we can do is make sure to protect ourselves—and each other—from omicron as much as possible, and that still includes getting vaccinated and boosted.
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