Coronavirus: Pink attacks ‘travesty’ of US testing after contracting COVID-19
Written by News on 06/04/2020
Pink has demanded more COVID-19 testing in the US after revealing she contracted the deadly virus.
In an Instagram post, the singer described the illness as “serious and real” and said it affects the “young and old, healthy and unhealthy, rich and poor”.
She described current testing efforts as a “travesty” and urged people to stay at home.
She wants testing to be “free and more widely accessible” and has donated a million dollars to two emergency funds.
Pink and her son Jameson, three, were showing symptoms of COVID-19 two weeks ago, she said.
“Fortunately, our primary care physician had access to tests and I tested positive,” the star added.
“My family was already sheltering at home and we continued to do so for the last two weeks following the instruction of our doctor.”
They were re-tested a few days ago and are “now thankfully negative”.
Turning to testing, she said: “It is an absolute travesty and failure of our government to not make testing more widely accessible.
“We must make testing free and more widely accessible to protect our children, our families, our friends and our communities.”
American magazine The Atlantic launched an initiative called the COVID Tracking Project to “fill a major gap in publicly available testing data”.
It added: “No governmental or institutional source is publishing complete testing data – including not just identified cases, but how many people have been tested, and where.”
In his latest advice to the nation, Donald Trump urged Americans to wear masks while saying he will not be doing so himself because he “doesn’t want to”.
Pink said half of her donation was going to the Temple University Hospital Emergency Fund in Philadelphia “in honour of my mother, Judy Moore, who worked there for 18 years”.
She is also giving $500,000 (£407,000) to the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Emergency COVID-19 Crisis Fund.
The star thanked healthcare professionals who are “working so hard to protect our loved ones”, adding: “You are our heroes!”
She finished by saying the “next two weeks are crucial” and “Please. Stay. Home”.
(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Pink attacks ‘travesty’ of US testing after contracting COVID-19
