Jillian Michaels Says She Contracted COVID-19 After Letting Her 'Guard Down for an Hour'
Jillian Michaels Says She Contracted COVID-19 After Letting Her 'Guard Down for an Hour'
"I’m fortunate to have gone into it being healthy and I was able to get on the other side of it pretty quick," the fitness trainer said
Jillian Michaels is opening up about her experience with coronavirus.
On Tuesday, the fitness trainer, 49, revealed she had contracted COVID-19 "several weeks ago" as she discussed why people should consider not going to the gym amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“If you are afraid of COVID, you should not go to the gym. And I actually am a person who let my guard down, I haven’t even spoken about this publicly really, and a very close friend of mine gave me COVID several weeks ago," she said during an interview with Fox Business discussing her at-home workout app.
“I’m fortunate to have gone into it being healthy and I was able to get on the other side of it pretty quick, but not everyone is that lucky as we know," she continued. "All I can tell you is if you are afraid of getting COVID, a public gym is probably a place where you will get it."
Presley Ann/FilmMagic Jillian Michaels
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"I would love to tell you that’s not the case, but the reality is I literally get my guard down for an hour with one of my best friends who does my hair and makeup and got it," Michaels said. "It’s just that simple."
The Biggest Loser alum went on to explain that her friend did not know she had coronavirus when they met up, and neither one of them knew they had contracted the virus until days after the meeting.
Manny Carabel/Getty Images Jillian Michaels
"If you’re not in a mask and that person is not in a mask, and they have COVID and have no idea — because, by the way, I had no idea that I had it for six days [and] my friend had no idea that she had it when she gave it to me — anticipate that you will likely get it in an environment like that," she said of going to the gym.
"If you are afraid of it, by all means, it’s not a move that I would recommend making," Michaels added.
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Many gyms across the nation were shut down earlier this year due to coronavirus concerns and chains such as 24 Hour Fitness and Gold's Gym were financially affected by the closure.
As of Tuesday, there have been at least 6,336,300 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, with at least 189,300 deaths, according to a New York Times database.
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