Pink Calls Having Coronavirus With Her Son The "Scariest Thing" She's Ever Been Through

Pink has flown across literal stadiums, sung above the Grammys crowd spinning around in silk without a harness, and performed on the side of a literal skyscraper, but that's nothing in comparison to COVID-19. Pink called coronavirus the "scariest thing" she's ever experienced in a new interview from home on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Speaking out for the first time since revealing that she and her three-year-old son Jameson had tested positive, the singer described their symptoms in detail and made it clear just how scary living with the virus can be.

Pink told Ellen DeGeneres that Jameson got sick first on March 14 with a fever, which she wasn't sweating initially because "three-year-olds get sick all the time." This soon shifted, however, when his symptoms worsened. "Then he would have stomach pains and diarrhea and chest pains, and then a headache and then sore throat," she explained. "Every day was some new symptom and his fever stayed, it didn’t go." She added that his temperature got as high as 103 degrees.

When she called her doctors, worried that her son had contracted COVID-19, they said there was nothing that could be done as data had shown that the virus doesn't severely affect children. “At one point I was crying, praying and I realized how ridiculous I sounded,” she said. “I thought they told us our kids would be okay. We were told that our kids were going to be okay!”

On March 16, Pink recalled, she started experiencing her own symptoms, including nausea, chills, and fatigue, noting that she "never had what they tell you to look for.” Her case worsened when she woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't breathe due to her severe asthma. “I needed my nebulizer for the first time in 30 years," she revealed. "I have this rescue inhaler that I use and I couldn’t function without it, and that’s when I started to get really scared because of all the stuff, you know, you can’t help but watch the news every day.”

After that night, she was able to get one at-home coronavirus test and tested herself, something that she received backlash for when she first announced her diagnosis as it appears that it has been easier for celebrities to receive tests due to their wealth and social status. And the singer agrees with the criticism. “You should be angry that I can get a test and you can’t, but being angry at me is not going to help anything,” she said. “We should work together to try and change that. The healthcare system is jacked. The government, in a way, failed us by not being prepared."

Luckily, her and Jameson rode out the illness at home and are now feeling much better — to the point where she (drunkenly) cut her own hair at home.

If you think you’re showing symptoms of coronavirus, which include fever, shortness of breath, and cough, call your doctor before going to get tested. If you’re anxious about the virus’s spread in your community, visit the CDC or NHS 111 in the UK for up-to-date information and resources, or seek out mental health support. You can find all Bustle’s coverage of coronavirus here, and UK-specific updates on coronavirus here.