"I’ve contracted the Coronavirus" says San Diego guitarist Drew Andrews

"I had test results come back positive for Covid 19 today," says local guitarist Drew Andrews. "I’ve contracted the Coronavirus. I’ll share more when I feel up to it. I’m doing okay, and am in the full home quarantine. I wish I knew earlier and would’ve made even safer choices than I’ve been trying to make."

"For all of you who’ve been doubting this whole thing, time’s up. Now you know somebody personally who is positive."

The 2010 San Diego Music Award winner for Best Electronic has played with Via Satellite, Bit Maps, the Album Leaf, and others. His solo album Only Mirrors, on the Minty Fresh label, was co-produced with Sven-Erik Seaholm. Physical copies of his solo EP Playing Birthday Games included handsewn DIY-style packaging, plus two bonus tracks not available digitally. Other solo full-lengths include Goddamn, Yes I’m For Real, and his novella the Shepherd’s Journals was published in 2015 by Portland's Blue Skirt Productions.

Andrews first became concerned on Sunday, March 22, when he suddenly lost his sense of taste and smell. "It wasn’t subtle, I began looking up Coronavirus symptoms. A fever came next day, and didn’t leave until, well, I still have it now." Although his symptoms worsened, he didn't have a cough. "I called a doctor on a lark this Wednesday [March 25] when more symptoms matched, and was told that I have likely contracted Covid-19, but didn’t qualify for a test - ya know, ‘take Tylenol, sleep little darling, Godspeed, many people gonna go through this.’ I accepted this, but next morning was out the door by 8:30am after a doctor’s callback for me to demo the start of a new appointment-based -- key info -- drive-thru in-car swab-test program."

"I guess I was patient number one at Grossmont Hospital’s unveiling of their new drive-thru clinic. They were still setting up cones and asking for instructions on walkies."

The testing experience proved unnerving. "[I was] told to ‘park here and stay in my car, keep hands on the wheel, keep this mask on my face,’ a laminated ‘#1’ sign slapped on my back windshield, waiting to be swabbed by one of the flurry of masked women and men in scrubs. Other cars being slowly ushered into the parking structure, Honda, Lexus, Ford, all being socially-distanced into their temp hospital room/parking spaces, masked drivers like me staring forward at ‘Doctor Parking Only’ sign designations on the concrete wall, and I thought to myself, 'Jesus, it’s like I’m in a plague outbreak.' And, I was."

After having a swab "threaded downward my nasal passage until it reached my tonsils, in the parking structure, of the hospital, that I was born in," Andrews says "I actually lost it in my car. Had to fight back the tears before the nurses came. It was too much for me actually. It seemed a stunningly unreal sequence of events."

Like much of the rest of the world, Andrews is staying in contact with everyone via the internet. "Love you all very much, I’m doing best as can be, even though a little scary, and will be resting and share more later, and answer as many questions as people have, I’d like to share and help everybody."

"Stay home. Be alone...you cannot ‘pray this away,’ ‘meditate this away,’ ‘crystal this away,’ ‘sage,’ ‘tequila away’...don’t be a fucking hippie. Believe science. Stop denying all this is even happening, the ultimate, shameful, ego act."

"Face the moment, stand in it, and don't shrink."