A man who claimed the COVID-19 pandemic was a hoax has changed his tune after contracting the illness, which has killed more than 315,000 people worldwide.
Brian Hitchens and his wife became hospitalised with the virus shortly after the Florida man dismissed the pandemic as fake, claiming "God is bigger than this virus will ever be" on social media.
Hitchens is now encouraging others to take the virus seriously during his stint in hospital. Although the virus can present little to no symptoms in some cases, the elderly or those with underlying health conditions are particularly at risk of developing a severe infection - which can be fatal.
"I thought it was maybe the government trying something, and it was kind of like they threw it out there to kinda distract us," Hitchens told Florida outlet WPTV from his hospital bed.
"I'd get up in the morning and pray and trust in God for his protection, and I'd just leave it at that. There were all these masks and gloves. I thought it looked like a hysteria."
Now, Hitchens says he wouldn't wish the disease on anyone.
"I don't want to see anyone go through what I went through," he said.
He also owned up to his mistake on social media.
"This wasn't some scare tactic that anybody was using. It wasn't some made-up thing. This was a real virus you gotta take seriously," he wrote on Facebook.
Hitchens' wife has reportedly been on a ventilator for three weeks, an outcome he describes as both "tough and sad".
The couple remains hospitalised at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, located in the city of Palm Beach Gardens.
Hitchens and his wife are currently unable to see each other and are unsure when they will be discharged.
