In a recent op-ed for the Miami New Times, 2 Live Crew member Luther Campbell, aka Uncle Luke, revealed that he had previously tested positive for coronavirus.
Admitting to initially following CDC guidelines by practicing social distancing and self-isolation, Campbell says he was eventually peer pressured into attending a birthday party at a strip club. That party is what he says led to his subsequent COVID-19 diagnosis.
“Recently, I joined the ranks of the more than 1 million Floridians who’ve caught the coronavirus,” Uncle Luke wrote. “Throughout the pandemic, I had been strictly adhering to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, especially wearing a mask whenever I stepped out of my house. Then I gave in to the peer pressure of going out to a party.”
He then goes on to describe what he observed at the strip club and how even though hardly anyone was wearing masks, he stayed late anyhow:
Last month, a friend celebrating his birthday at a local strip club would not stop blowing up my phone. He kept begging me to come. I told myself I would go in for 15 minutes and duck out. As soon as I walked through the doors, it was like stepping into a coronavirus-spreading chamber. Everybody was wildin’ out and getting drunk. Almost no one was wearing masks. My buddies were all up in my face. Patrons and strippers were walking up to me and asking to take selfies. Of course, I obliged when they asked me to take my mask off. Even though I felt like everyone in the club was an asymptomatic carrier, I stayed late.
A few days later, he started exhibiting some symptoms of coronavirus: a dry cough, fever, loss of appetite and eventually loss of smell or taste. After checking into a hospital and ultimately testing positive, he was then sent home and told to quarantine for two weeks while he “rode out the ‘Rona.” And while the “Hoochie Mama” artist has since made a full recovery, he has a message to share for all those who still aren’t taking COVID-19 seriously enough:
You have to think about the consequences of catching the coronavirus. You don’t want to take it home and infect your parents and your grandparents. You don’t want to be responsible for killing them. So if you go out, put your mask on when you are not drinking or eating. You don’t have to be all up on each other, either. You can still hang out at a six-foot distance from each other. And if the establishment has too many people not following the protocols, don’t be afraid to go home and call it a night.
To read the full op-ed, head to miaminewtimes.com.