Laine Hardy Diagnosed With COVID-19, Says ‘Symptoms Are Mild’
Laine Hardy is in quarantine at home after being diagnosed with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The country singer and American Idol Season 17 champ revealed his diagnosis on Facebook on Sunday (June 21).
“This wasn’t what I expected on the first day of summer," Hardy admits, noting that his "symptoms are mild," and that he's "home recovering in quarantine.
"Y’all stay safe & healthy!" Hardy's message concludes.
Hardy, a 19-year-old Louisiana native, made it to the Top 50 of American Idol Season 16 before re-auditioning for and winning Season 17. He recently released two new singles, "Ground I Grew Up On" and "Let There Be Country," and is working on his first full-length album.
Watch Laine Hardy Perform "Tiny Town"
"I'm more of a traditional kind of artist," Hardy says. "I would probably blend all my classic and country influences into my music."
Hardy is far from the first member of the country music community to be diagnosed with COVID-19. Sturgill Simpson, Runaway June member Jennifer Wayne, Ray Benson, Kalie Shorr and more have battled and recovered from the virus, which the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic in mid-March. Joe Diffie and John Prine both died of the coronavirus in late March and early April, respectively.
As of Sunday, more than 8.8 million people have contracted the novel coronavirus worldwide; the United States accounts for more than 2.2 million of those cases, the most of any country. A total of 465,460 people have died of the virus, including 119,453 in the U.S.
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