After testing positive for COVID infection last week, an infection later confirmed by PCR tests, and having experiencing mild cold-like symptoms for a few days, Tesla CEO Elon Musk now reports he has “fully recovered.”
Fully
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2020
We reported a week ago that Elon Musk said he had tested positive for COVID on Thursday 12th November, was experiencing typical cold-like symptoms, and was awaiting more a more reliable diagnosis from further (PCR) tests.
Over the next day or so, the balance of evidence of those more thorough PCR tests indicated that he did indeed have the coronavirus in his system:
Am getting wildly different results from different labs, but most likely I have a moderate case of covid. My symptoms are that of a minor cold, which is no surprise, since a coronavirus is a type of cold.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 14, 2020
By Tuesday the 17th, Musk said that the balance of test evidence of his COVID infection was unequivocal:
Yeah, PCR Ct was unequivocal at <20. Doesn’t matter what method you use at that low a cycle threshold.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 17, 2020
However, by that same date (Tuesday 17th), Musk already reported feeling largely recovered:
Pretty close. Definitely feel 💯 if I take DayQuil. Frankly, this was one of the mildest cold/flu experiences I’ve ever had.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 17, 2020
As we saw above, by the evening of Wednesday 18th, Musk said he was “fully recovered”:
Fully
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2020
It’s common for news media to report stories of a “negative turn of events”, and yet when the same events later return to a more normalized condition, the recovery all too often does not get reported. As a result, the net balance of news reporting ends up distinctly negative!
As Tesla’s CEO, Chief Engineer, and largest investor, Elon Musk has arguably done as much as anyone over the past 15+ years to move human society towards a cleaner energy future. Having shared the news last week that Elon Musk had tested positive for COVID, I’m now very happy to be able to share that Musk reports that he has made a full recovery from his infection.
Because this appears to be have been a mild case, Musk’s experience of full recovery is probably an accurate prognosis, in the clinical sense. Just as a public service announcement, it’s worth remembering that, especially in more acute cases, some COVID patients can experience apparent recovery from the obvious symptoms, yet still experience some persistent long-term health effects of varying severity, and cautious convalescence is advisable (as this NYT article notes).
During his downtime, Elon Musk’s main projects, Tesla and Space X continued to make strong progress. Standard and Poor’s announced that Tesla would be included in their benchmark S&P 500 index from late December, lending further credibility to the company, and potentially reducing volatility of the company’s market capitalization. Meanwhile Space X’s Crew Dragon vehicle successfully carried four astronauts from Florida to the International Space Station.
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