COVID Skeptic Elon Musk ‘Supposedly’ Has The Virus Again

As an outspoken critic of COVID-19 policies, Elon Musk has “supposedly” contracted the virus again, according to a Twitter post from the Tesla (TSLA) CEO.

Musk posted the tweet announcing the news early Monday morning, writing, “I supposedly have it again (sigh), but almost no symptoms.”

The announcement was preceded by a pondering from Musk, who wondered, “How many gene changes before it’s not COVID-19 anymore?”

The billionaire, who has a net worth of $256 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has been a longtime skeptic of the virus. However, he told TIME in December 2021 that he and his eligible children were vaccinated against COVID-19 because “the science is unequivocal.”

He also tweeted a similar statement in April 2021, saying, “I do support vaccines in general & COVID vaccines specifically. The science is unequivocal.”

But earlier in September 2020, he told the New York Times that he and his family wouldn’t get the vaccine because “I’m not at risk for COVID, nor are my kids.”

Musk first contracted the virus in November 2020, when his skepticism of COVID tests was widely apparent. He slammed the validity of his test results, calling them “Bogus” when he took four rapid antigen tests with differing test results.

He was quickly schooled on Twitter about the accuracy of rapid tests versus PCR lab test results. The confusion prevented him from participating in SpaceX's maiden voyage to the edge of space.

Prior to testing positive for COVID-19, Musk commonly sounded off about the pandemic, saying “the coronavirus panic is dumb” in a tweet in March 2020.

He balked and defied orders to shut down Tesla’s California plant as a nonessential business during the height of the pandemic in May 2020, calling the orders an outrage that put the business at “serious risk.”

He called the lockdown orders “forcible imprisoning” in a quarterly earnings call, Business Insider reported.

“It's breaking people's freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong and not why they came to America or built this country,” Musk said about the shelter-in-place orders, according to the news outlet.

It was unclear if Musk had taken a COVID test to confirm his second virus diagnosis or what protocol he will be facing as a result.

As of Monday premarket hours, shares of Tesla were trading at $1,061.17, up $50.53, or 5%.