Jeremy Clarkson, 60, reveals he battled COVID-19 over Christmas

I’m not going to lie, it was quite scary’: Jeremy Clarkson, 60, reveals he battled coronavirus over Christmas and says he has ‘absolutely no idea’ if he’s better now

The presenter has revealed he began to feel unwell four days before Christmas.
Clarkson then Googled his symptoms and eventually got tested for coronavirus
He recalled: ‘The doctor was very clear. I’d feel under the weather for between five and 14 days and then I’d either get better or I’d have to go to hospital’
Clarkson admitted he felt ‘scared’ and was prepared for the ‘Grim Reaper to poke his head around the door’
Clarkson was forced to isolate at the cottage he lives in with girlfriend Lisa and her children – but was unsure how much contact he could have with them
The TV star was concerned thanks to his age, unhealthy lifestyle and the fact that he has had pneumonia twice in his life
He said: ‘I don’t even know if I’m better now. Seriously, I have absolutely no idea’

By Andrew Bullock For Mailonline

Published: 19:23 GMT, 2 January 2021 | Updated: 20:14 GMT, 2 January 2021

Jeremy Clarkson has revealed that he battled COVID-19 over Christmas, and thought he would die from it.

The presenter, who is 60, told the world about his ordeal in his latest article for The Times, revealing he began to feel unwell four days before Christmas, Googled his symptoms and eventually got tested for coronavirus.

‘The doctor was very clear,’ Clarkson recalls in his column. ‘I’d feel under the weather for between five and 14 days and then I’d either get better or I’d have to go to hospital.

‘It was scary!’ Jeremy Clarkson has revealed that he battled COVID-19 over Christmas, and thought he would die from it

‘Where, because I am 60 and fat, and because I’ve smoked half a million cigarettes and had double pneumonia, I’d probably die, on my own, in a lonely plastic tent.’

Detailing what happened, Clarkson explained he woke up drenched in sweat, suffered a persistent dry cough and went into isolation.

After batting off questions from friends about who could have given him the virus (‘possibly someone who decided to drizzle a bit of bat onto his pork chop’), Clarkson explained that he took himself off to bed with ‘the new Don Winslow book and a bag of kale’ and waited ‘for the Grim Reaper to pop his head round the door’.

‘I’m not going to lie — it was quite scary!’ he added.

Masked men: Jeremy is pictured with his The Grand Tour co-star Richard Hammond [R] and producer Andy Wilman [C] en route to a filming destination in October

Tested: Clarkson posted a snap of a COVID-19 test on Instagram two weeks ago

The Grand Tour host went on to explain that he was isolating in a small cottage with his girlfriend Lisa Hogan, 46, and her children, and felt unclear about who he was allowed to have any contact with.

He went on: ‘With every illness I’ve had, there has always been a sense that medicine and time would eventually ride to the rescue, but with COVID-19 you have to lie there, on your own, knowing that medicine is not on its way and that time is your worst enemy.’

Jeremy’s children – Emily, Katya and Finlo, from his marriage to second wife Frances Cain – visited him on Christmas Day for 40 minutes and shared a glass of champagne with him in the garden (under Tier 2 rules).

Staying safe: Jeremy is pictured in September 2020, filming The Grand Tour, taking COVID-19 precautions by social distancing and wearing a face mask

The TV host went on to explain that he was isolating in a small cottage with his girlfriend Lisa Hogan, 46, and her children, and felt unclear about who he was allowed to have any contact with [Jeremy and Lisa are pictured in February 2020]

He recalled that no-one knew how safe this actually was and added in the article: ‘We keep being told that we know a great deal about COVID, but what I’ve learnt over the past 10 days is: we don’t.

‘We don’t know how long we are infectious for. We don’t know how to tackle it. We don’t know what it does to us. We don’t know how long the antibodies last. We don’t know how easy it is to catch it twice. And we certainly don’t know if any of the vaccines will work long-term.

‘I don’t even know if I’m better now. Seriously, I have absolutely no idea.’

HOW LONG ARE COVID-19 PATIENTS CONTAGIOUS AND WHAT MAKES THEM INFECTIOUS?

By Natalie Rahhal, US Health Editor

It may take anywhere from three to 14 days after someone is exposed to coronavirus for symptoms to show up.

The average person will develop symptoms within four to five days.

It’s now clear that a person can spread coronavirus before they actually show any signs of having the illness.

Most research now suggests that can start happening between 48 and 72 hours before their symptoms begin.

A COVID-19 patient becomes infectious to others once the virus has made enough copies to give them a higher viral load, meaning there is a sufficiently significant concentration of virus genome in their mucus and saliva to potentially spread it.

When an infected person coughs or sneezes, they spray droplets into the air, and these droplets can be be inhaled by others.

Pinning down exactly how early someone becomes contagious, when they are at their peak infectiousness, and when they are no longer contagious is extremely difficult.

Many studies suggest that people most infectious right around the time their symptoms start. A handful have found people were actually most infectious in the 48 hours before they become contagious, according to Harvard University.

That early infectious period is part of why coronavirus is so hard to control: People cna spread the disease before they know they have it.

And the infectious period lasts a long time. Most scientists think that viral shedding continues for about 10 days after symptoms start in mild to moderate cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But some more severely ill people stay infectious for up to 20 days.

Large virus-containing droplets expelled when coronavirus patients cough or sneeze are still thought to be the primary mode of transmission.

That means that being symptomatic makes someone more likely to spread the disease.

CDC officials have now confirmed the virus can spread in fine particles, too, acknowledging how it is transmitted even by people with no symptoms.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk