Linda Martin has revealed that she collapsed on her kitchen floor – after she supposedly contracted COVID-19 from an Italian fan.
The 68-year-old became seriously ill last month, and told the Irish Sun: “I reckon I had it. It hit me after the incubation period on March 15.”
“I was never so sick in my whole life. I remember it started with a burning sensation and a fever breaking. I was in the kitchen and staggered over to the sink to get some water.”
“Then I blacked out and woke up on the kitchen floor with my dogs looking down at me.”
“I’m not exaggerating, I was really bad. I’m a tough old bird and not much bothers me but this nearly finished me off. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody,” she said.
The former Eurovision winner didn’t get tested for COVID-19, but was seen by doctors and spent ten days in bed recovering.
Linda also revealed fellow singer Red Hurley, and a promoter she had just been on tour with, suffered with the same symptoms.
Linda said: “Red didn’t get it as bad as me thank God, but our promoter got it worst. He ended up in hospital for four days on a drip.”
“We were all over Ireland since the start of January but I sat down and traced back the 14 day incubation period to where and when we could have got this, and we realised, myself, Red and the promoter, all met the same Italian fan who turned up at one of the dates.”
The singer also blamed the coronavirus pandemic on the Chinese authorities, and said the country’s treatment of animals is “barbaric”.
“The Chinese authorities are totally to blame for letting this happen. The whole of humanity has been brought to its knees because of their cruelty to animals,” she said.
“We should boycott everything that comes out of China until they adhere to laws that you treat animals with respect. They have no human rights in China so think what animals have to suffer in that country. It’s simply barbaric.”
“I know the Chinese population have been eating bats for centuries but maybe they didn’t know any better. But in 2020 there is a lot more safer food available and they need to understand the dangers if they continue to eat bats and snakes.”
“All the animals in these wet markets, were never meant to be living alongside one another. Nature never intended them to be so close. Yet here we have snakes, bats, cats and rats piled on top of one another with every germ and virus spreading,” she continued.
“Is it any wonder with all these species in together and getting slaughtered, it would spread to people in a ‘zoonotic spillover’ (a term for the transmission of a pathogen from a vertebrate animal to a human).
“The Chinese government has such control over their people, you would think they would stamp out these practices. They need to bring in tough new laws,” Linda added.
On this week’s episode of The Gosscast, Goss.ie founder Ali Ryan and Editor Kendra Becker chat about the celebrities who are donating millions to help amid the coronavirus crisis, and the serious drama on Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
Plus, the girls discuss Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s controversial move to Hollywood.
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