DL Hughley tests positive for COVID-19 after collapsing at comedy club

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D.L. Hughley on Saturday revealed that he tested positive for COVID-19, one day after he suddenly collapsed on stage at a Nashville comedy club.

Hughley, 57, took to his Twitter page to address his fans about the frightening incident. The comic was mid-joke on Friday when he began slurring his speech and subsequently fainted while three men came to his assistance. Zanies Nashville Comedy Club was hosting him for a four-day set.

During treatment at Saint Thomas West Hospital, it was determined that he contracted the coronavirus.

In a video posted to his Twitter page, Hughley stated that his fall was most likely the result of “extreme exhaustion and dehydration.” However, doctors performed “a battery of tests,” he said, during which he discovered he had contracted the virus that has grasped the world.

“I also tested positive for COVID-19, which blew me away,” he explained. “I was what they called asymptomatic. I didn’t have any symptoms.”

Some of the known symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, loss of smell, difficulty breathing, sore throat and fatigue, among other signs.

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“Apparently, I just lost consciousness,” quipped Hughley, who hosts the nationally syndicated “The DL Hughley Show.” “In addition to all the other stuff you have to look out for, if your ass pass out in the middle of a show, on stage, you probably need to get tested.”

More than 8.8 million people around the globe have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by a coronavirus outbreak that was first discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December. More than 2.2. million people in the United States have tested positive for the virus and about 119,700 have died of complications as of Sunday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Hughley also thanked all the fans for their prayers and well wishes upon hearing the initial news of his collapse.

“To you comedians who called and said such evil things when I was scared to death, thank you, too,” he said with a chuckle.

“Thank you for your prayers and your well wishes, and a few more of them wouldn’t hurt,” he said to his followers.

READ MORE: New York City to begin phase 2 of reopening amid virus 

Friday, June 19, was the second night of Hughley’s four-night run at Zanies Nashville. Video of the incident by a fan went viral. According to Fox News, it was his manager who caught him as his body went limp on stage to the sold-out audience. Two additional men came to his aide before he was taken to the hospital.

Hughley stated in his video that he will be quarantining in his Nashville hotel for the next 14 days.

The Associated Press confirmed that his remaining sets at Zanies Nashville have been canceled. Hughley also had scheduled appearance in Huntsville, Alabama and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, as shown on his Facebook page.

The comedy club had reopened for business on May 15, according to The Tennessean. The phase 3 reopening for the city of Nashville from coronavirus lockdown starts Monday.

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