TOOL Frontman MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN Had COVID-19 In February, Is Still Dealing With Residual Effects

October 9, 2020

TOOL frontman Maynard James Keenan revealed in a new interview with the Arizona Republic that he contracted COVID-19 at the end of February and is still recovering as he prepares to release the new album from his PUSCIFER project, "Existential Reckoning".

"I'm still dealing with the residual effects," Maynard said. "But it was ugly. I survived it, but it wasn't pretty. So I definitely had to deal with that.

Maynard went on to say that he "didn't want to run around screaming" that he had COVID-19. "But it's real," he said. "And there's after-effects. I had to go through some major medications to undo the residual effects. Still coughing. There's still lung damage."

Keenan added that "several" of his friends also tested positive for the novel coronavirus. "Very not old people, young people, in shape, runners, who contracted it as well," he said. "And they're still dealing with some of the after-effects. I lost a few family members."

Asked if he is feeling all right now, Maynard said: "Well, no. I still have the cough. Every other day, I have these coughing fits because my lungs are still damaged at the tips. And I just got over the inflammation that was going on with my wrist and hands. I had an autoimmune attack on my system in the form of, like, a rheumatoid arthritis. Basically, from what I understand, it attacks weird spots and it's random. So that's what I got. That was my prize."

An August study in the British Medical Journal estimated that approximately 10% of people who tested positive for COVID-19 experience prolonged post-viral illness.

A more recent study conducted by Clinical Microbiology And Infection found that two-thirds of COVID-19 patients experienced symptoms 30 days, or even as long as 60 days after symptom onset. It concluded that "more than one-third felt still sick or in a worse clinical condition" at day 60 than at the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.

"Existential Reckoning" will be released on October 30 via Alchemy Recordings, a partnership with BMG.

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