Americana and folk legend John Prine has entered quarantine after his wife tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Fiona Prine took to social media on Tuesday (17Mar20) to share the news of her diagnosis, revealing both she and the Lake Marie musician were tested for COVID-19 after she began experiencing flu-like symptoms.
"I have some of the typical symptoms. I didn't have a high fever, but I certainly had a cough and some breathlessness," she explained in an Instagram video message to followers.
"John, however, was also tested and his came back 'indeterminate.'"
Although the singer's results were inconclusive, the health scare was enough to prompt the couple to take precautionary measures and go into quarantine separately, because at 73, cancer survivor John - who underwent heart surgery last year (19) and recently had to scrap concerts due to a hip injury - is considered to be in the high-risk category if he is infected.
"There's a chance he may not have this virus, and we are working really, really hard and being really diligent about all of the protocols," Fiona shared. "We are quarantined and isolated from each other and members of the family.
"It's hard, I won't lie, but it's absolutely important."
Fiona then urged followers to take heed of medical experts' self-isolation advice to try and slow the spread of the coronavirus.
"So far, he's fine," she said of her husband's current health. "He's always got a little something (medical issue) going on, but he's 73 years old and he may have some issues, but he may not have this virus and I want to keep it that way."
She added, "This would not be a good virus for him to get, or anyone like him in his age group with his underlying health conditions. It is really imperative that we stay home."
Fiona, who insists she is "fine" and "will recover", is unsure where she contracted the disease, although she revealed the couple had returned from Europe, the epicentre of COVID-19, last month (Mar20).
"Maybe we picked it up there, maybe we didn't," she shrugged. "But what's important now is that I'm not going to spread this. I'm not going to be responsible for passing this onto someone, least of all my husband."
"I'm asking you to please stay at home. That's all...," she continued. "Just stay home. Please, stay home. I think we'll get through this if we do it together."
Fiona joins the likes of actors Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Idris Elba, Daniel Dae Kim, and Olga Kurylenko, and Monacos Prince Albert, who have all tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days.
The coronavirus pandemic has so far resulted in 236,300 confirmed cases of infection worldwide, with more than 9,700 deaths as of Thursday (19Mar20).
