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17 March 2020, 15:39
Shane says he experienced flu-like symptoms earlier this year, but a doctor was unable to give him a diagnosis.
Shane Dawson believes that he might have already contracted coronavirus in January after experiencing flu-like symptoms that could not be attributed to a known illness by doctors. The YouTuber also thinks he could have spread the virus to his fiancé Ryland Adams and YouTuber Jeffree Star.
Shane has been keeping his fans updated on the latest coronavirus news on social media. Last week, he admitted that his anxiety was "spiralling" because of the global pandemic but he was doing his best to remain calm.
READ MORE: Read the NHS advice for coronavirus
Speaking on Instagram Stories, Shane explained how he experienced flu-like symptoms earlier this year. However, he got tested for all possible strains of flu and viruses and the doctors couldn't find a thing.
"I think I had the corona. I think everybody around me had the corona," he said. "And I've traced it back to myself. Not saying I'm patient zero, because I don't leave my house. There is somebody who came into my house that I think gave it to me, because they were sick, and then like four days later I got really sick."
He added: "I call the doctor to come to my house, because I was like, couldn't move, couldn't get out of bed, I was dehydrated. Doctor comes over. They do the swab thing. This is before corona, like, it was around but it wasn't like a thing in LA. Nobody was testing for it. So the doctor does the test, I get a call the next day, saying: 'Really weird, you're negative for every strain of flu and every cold and every virus.'"
Coronavirus is thought to have originated in Wuhan, China, with cases of an unknown illness starting in December 2019. However, it wasn't declared a global pandemic until March 2020.
Shane said the doctor thought his symptoms might be linked to depression. "I literally had a full mental breakdown that night because I was just like, 'I'm sick, the doctor thinks I'm making it up,'" he explained. "Because there wasn't a corona test at the time."
I don’t want to add to the anxiety of the situation but I’m genuinely spiraling about the corona virus and I just don’t really know how to process all of this. If ur feeling the same just know it’s ok to be worried right now even if people tell you you’re overreacting.
— Shane Dawson (@shanedawson) March 12, 2020
Shane went onto say that he noticed that people around him started to become ill too and he possibly infected Jeffree Star, Jeffree's assistant Madison, his fiancé Ryland, Ryland's sister Morgan, and his video editor Andrew Siwicki. All because he didn't realise he was contagious as his tests came back negative.
"Everybody handled it differently, like Morgan's real bad. Ryland's not that bad," Shane explained. "Everybody had this weird moment of like feeling okay for a couple days in the middle of it, and then it got really bad."
READ MORE: Jeffree Star forced to shut down his warehouse due to coronavirus
He continued: "I think a couple days after that I was feeling a little better, I had a meeting at Jeffree's and Andrew was there."
Shane also reshared an Instagram Story from Feb 10, which showed him looking visibly unwell. "Hey guys, is anyone else getting sick like, a lot? I've been sick for like two months," he says in the clip. "I went to the doctor's and I don't know what's going on."
Shane did emphasise that he feels absolutely fine now, though, and this wasn't a conspiracy, he was just sharing information.
Meanwhile, Jeffree hasn't commented on whether or not he believes he contracted the virus. However, he did recently say that he had remained in isolation for five days (until he left to get botox…) and he made sure his warehouse workers would have time off work on full pay.