TRIVIUM's MATT HEAFY: COVID-19 Is 'Very Real'

TRIVIUM frontman Matt Heafy says that even healthy people with no pre-existing conditions can get very sick with COVID-19.

Heafy made the comment in order to push back against the belief that the novel coronavirus only affects the elderly and people with underlying conditions, such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease.

On Thursday (April 22),Matt took to his Instagram to write: "One of my family members has recently been sick for 11+ days from Covid and now has been admitted into the hospital with fluid in the lungs and Covid-pneumonia. They have no pre-existing conditions, is intensely strong physically and mentally, resilient; and was not taking risks.

"This is very real," he continued. "Whoever tells you otherwise doesn't want 'normal' life or fun to ever return.

"Take care of yourself, and let's get everything back to being able to be enjoyed together.

"Send whatever positive thing you can to whoever you may know who is afflicted," he concluded his post.

A new, more contagious coronavirus strain has reportedly been hitting young people in the U.S. particularly hard, with many of them suffering COVID-19 complications they didn't expect.

According to NBC News, the number of children hospitalized with severe COVID-19 symptoms in Michigan hit a high of 70 this week — twice as many as were hospitalized during the worst days of the wave that swept the state in November.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimate that as many as 130 million Americans could have a pre-existing condition — which is roughly half of all non-elderly adults in the United States.