Breaking: Elon Musk Says He Is Covid-19 Positive Again

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Monday he had tested positive for COVID-19 again, although he did not appear to be exhibiting major symptoms at the moment. This marks the second time Musk appears to have contracted the virus, the first being in late-2020.

Both announcements were broadcast over twitter. On Monday, Musk tweeted that he had “supposedly” gotten the virus again.

Covid-19 is the virus of Theseus. How many gene changes before it’s not Covid-19 anymore? I supposedly have it again (sigh), but almost no symptoms.

-Musk on twitter

Musk is the second high-profile CEO to test positive for the virus in recent weeks. On Saturday, Changpeng Zhao, head of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, said he had tested positive after a recent visit to El Salvador.

Musk and Covid have a complicated history

Musk, the world’s richest man, has drawn sharp criticism over the past two years for allegedly downplaying the impact of Covid-19, as well as questioning the efficacy of Covid vaccines.

During the initial outbreak in March 2020, Musk had repeatedly criticized lockdown orders that shut Tesla’s assembly line in California, and had also threatened to violate health guidelines in San Francisco’s Bay Area.

He had also insisted that Covid-19’s mortality rate was low. The WHO reports that the virus has killed over 6.1 million people to date.

In 2020, Musk said he likely had a mild case of Covid after testing himself four times. He had also referred to the coronavirus as a type of cold.

Musk has repeatedly questioned the need for a Covid vaccine, without citing evidence. But Tesla has so far complied with Covid-related laws, recently halting production at a Shanghai plant following a new outbreak.

New Covid variant on the rise?

Recent outbreaks in China and Hong Kong have raised concerns over another variant of Covid-19. While global cases have been otherwise declining across the globe governments have warned of the the existence of an even more infectious strain- the BA.2 Omicron variant.

While the digital shift spurred by the Covid pandemic had greatly benefited crypto, the space was also privy to the market ructions caused by Covid. The market had crashed during the initial outbreak in 2020, and has since been sensitive to any drastic spikes in cases.