Mike Schultz tested positive for coronavirus after attending the Winter Party Festival in Florida (Instagram/@thebearded_nurse)
Yet another person who attended the the annual LGBT+ fundraiser Winter Party Festival has been hospitalised for coronavirus.
The event in Miami, Florida, took place from March 4-10 and was packed with more than 10,000 people. Shortly after the event, organisers confirmed that an attendee was diagnosed with coronavirus.
Several more attendees then shared on social media that they had also tested positive, or had been in contact with someone who had.
In the weeks that followed there have been reports of a “cluster” of party guests falling seriously ill, and at least two people have died.
The latest Winter Party attendee to test positive for coronavirus is Mike Schultz, a 43-year-old nurse at California Pacific Medical Centre in San Francisco.
Schultz goes by @thebearded_nurse on Instagram, where he has a following of over 25,000.
He attended the Winter Party with his boyfriend, Joshua Hebblethwaite, who was a DJ at the event. After an “amazing” weekend they travelled to Hebblethwaite’s home in Boston on March 10.
The next week Schultz fell seriously ill, and by mid-March he needed to be hospitalised.
He was sedated and taken to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton, Massachusetts, where he is now in intensive care. He was placed on a ventilator and has been intubated for the past two weeks.
As they pray for his recovery his loved ones are fundraising for help covering his crippling medical costs.
“Let’s all pitch in and help this amazing guy however we can – every dollar helps and will go a long way for him,” his friend Jon Mastronardi wrote on the GoFundMe page.
Writing on Facebook, Schultz’s boyfriend explained the “huge financial burden” the disease is causing them.
“Once he does [recover] he is going to need to stay local for a few weeks before he can fly home to San Francisco,” Hebblethwaite said.
“At that point we are not sure when he will be able to return to work. We need your help. We realise these are crazy times and everyone’s lives, schedules, jobs are upended but anything helps.
“It’s going to be a long road and he will need all the help he can get.”
As of publication they have raised $11,865 of their $15,000 target. To contribute, click here.