Coronavirus: Elon Musk says he ‘supposedly’ contracted COVID-19 again
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to social media early Monday to say he “supposedly” has contracted COVID-19 again, multiple news outlets are reporting.
“COVID-19 is the virus of Theseus,” he tweeted shortly after 4 a.m. EDT. “How many gene changes before it’s not COVID-19 anymore? I supposedly have it again (sigh), but almost no symptoms.”
This isn’t the first time the 50-year-old tech magnate has announced a possible COVID-19 diagnosis on social media. In November 2020, Musk claimed that he received two negative and two positive results after taking four rapid COVID-19 tests in one day, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. He later clarified that he “most likely” had contracted the virus, according to Reuters.
Early on in the pandemic, Musk criticized coronavirus lockdowns and downplayed the virus’ risks for several months, the Journal reported. But in April 2021, he tweeted that he does “support vaccines in general and COVID vaccines in particular,” according to CBS News.
In December, Musk told Time magazine that while he and his children have received the vaccine, he does not believe governments should mandate the shots.
On Sunday, the U.S. was averaging 30,120 new COVID-19 cases per day, down 12% over the past two weeks, according to The New York Times. Meanwhile, the nation averaged 793 daily deaths, a decrease of 39% from 14 days earlier, the newspaper reported.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Sunday that 65.5% of the U.S. population is considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19. About 44.7% of fully vaccinated residents have received a booster dose of a coronavirus vaccine, the agency said.
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Here are some memorable photos of SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk through the years.
2008: Tesla founder Elon Musk attends the launch party for the Tesla Roadster, the world’s first highway-capable all electric car available in the United States, at the Tesla Flagship Store on May 1, 2008, in Los Angeles.
2009: CEO Elon Musk (left) arrives at the Tesla UK launch on June 25, 2009, in London.
2010: Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger laugh during a news conference at Tesla Motors headquarters May 20, 2010, in Palo Alto, California.
2011: Talulah Riley and Elon Musk attend the 2011 Orange British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on February 13, 2011, in London.
2012: Director Bryn Mooser, executive producer Elon Musk, executive producer Olivia Wilde and director David Darg of the film "Baseball in the Time of Cholera" attend the "Help Wanted" Shorts Program during the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival at the AMC Lowes Village on April 21, 2012, in New York City.
2013: CEO and CTO of SpaceX and CEO and Chief Product Architect of Tesla Motors Elon Musk participates in a discussion at the New York Times 2013 DealBook Conference in New York at the New York Times Building on November 12, 2013, in New York City.
2014: Actress Talulah Riley (left) and CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk attend the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014, in West Hollywood, California.
2015: Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during an event to launch the new Tesla Model X Crossover SUV on September 29, 2015, in Fremont, California.
2016: Elon Musk and actress Kate Hudson attend the 2016 InStyle and Warner Bros. 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards Post-Party at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 10, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California.
2017: Maye Musk (left) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attend the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 26, 2017, in Beverly Hills, California.
2018: Elon Musk and Grimes attend the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & the Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018, in New York City.
2019: SpaceX Chief Engineer Elon Musk (right) speaks with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (center) while viewing the OctaWeb, part of the Merlin engine used for the Falcon rockets, at the SpaceX Headquarters, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, in Hawthorne, California.
2020: SpaceX founder Elon Musk celebrates after the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the manned Crew Dragon spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center on May 30, 2020, in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
2021: Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Armin Laschet, CDU Federal Chairman and Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, talk during a tour of the plant of the future foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory on August 13, 2021, in Grünheide near Berlin, Germany.
