Brian May urges fans to stay at home as Omicron variant spreads: ‘The Beast is still in my body’
Musician observes virus to be seems faster-spreading but ‘much less of a killer’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Brian May has continued to share updates with fans as he deals with a bout of coronavirus.
The Queen guitarist revealed he had tested positive for the virus earlier this week, describing it as “the worst flu you can imagine”.
May, who is triple-jabbed, told followers that he believed he caught Covid-19 while attending a friend’s birthday meal with his wife, EastEnders star Anita Dobson, and a small group of friends.
Sharing the latest on his condition, May shared a photo of a positive test on Instagram and commented: “Well, that ‘T’ line looks quite faint - and it took all of the prescribed 30 mins to develop. But the instructions say this is still a positive result.”
“Not that I would be going out anywhere at this point anyway,” he continued. “But it’s a reminder that the Beast is still in my body. I can still feel it, too. Congestion, snuffles, slightly dizzy head. And it’s not too late for the thing to kick back at me. But otherwise OK today. I wonder how long it will take me to get a negative result.”
May said he found the virus “more and more intriguing” as he had the chance to study it “at intimately close quarters”.
“Nobody has yet been able to tell me which variant we all caught 10 days ago at that birthday lunch,” he said. “Which has made me very suspicious of the accuracy of the daily stats on infections. But it’s a fair assumption that it was the Omicron chap. It seems apparent (and confirmed by some informed friends) that this descendent of the original Covid 19 is much better at propagating itself fast, but much less of a killer.”
He continued by remarking that, while the Omicron variant appeared to be faster-spreading that others, it was less effective at spreading to a person’s lungs or causing breathing difficulties.
“If this is true, this is REAL cause for long term optimism,” he wrote. “We are looking at an organism which is well on the road to be coming just another cold or flu germ to be dealt with as we have always done. But it has to be said that this whole pandemic has taught us a thing or two as far as behaving sensibly in the face of such pervasive pathogens. Right? Stay home!!! With love - Bri.”
In a post earlier this week, May said that eight people at the party he attended tested positive, and his lateral flow test took three days to show a positive result.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments