A COVID-19 denier who previously claimed coronavirus was a hoax created by the government has had a change of heart after contracting the virus for himself.
Back in April, Brian Hitchens from West Palm Beach in Florida was among those to play down the impact of COVID-19, stating: “God is bigger than this virus will ever be.”
It came despite the rising number of cases and deaths across the US, which have since contributed to America becoming the epicentre of the outbreak with tens of thousands of people all over the country losing their lives.
Brian's change of tack came after both he and his wife were hospitalised with the virus.
Speaking to WPTV from his bed at the Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, the rideshare driver admits he thought it was part of a wider conspiracy at the time.
“I thought it was maybe the government trying something, and it was kind of like they threw it out there to kinda distract us.”
Now Brian is calling on anyone who will listen to take it seriously, because he would rather not see them “go through what I went through”.
His wife has been on a ventilator for the past three weeks and they have been unable to see each other for much of that time.
Worse still, she remains in a serious condition with Brian left helplessly waiting to see if she pulls through.
One thing he does appear certain of, however, is that people are going to need more than just God on their side to get through it.
“I’d get up in the morning and pray and trust in God for his protection, and I’d just leave it at that,” he explained on Facebook.
“There were all these masks and gloves. I thought it looks like a hysteria.”
He said: ‘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."
See More: Coronavirus, Covid-19, God
