MIKE PORTNOY Tests Positive For COVID-19: 'This Sucks'

Former DREAM THEATER and current THE WINERY DOGS drummer Mike Portnoy has revealed that he has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

The 54-year-old musician, who lives in Pennsylvania, shared his positive diagnosis with his 521,000 Instagram followers on Saturday (April 2). He posted a photo of his positive test and he included the following message: "Yep…ugh! PS - this is my 1st time getting it…turns out when I was sick in Feb after the NMB [NEAL MORSE BAND] tour, it was just a very bad sinus infection…" He added: "Anyways - comments turned off to avoid any political, Vaxx, masks, etc BS – don't need any of that headache adding to this".

Earlier today (Sunday, April 3),Portnoy returned to his Instagram and shared a picture of another positive test. He wrote: "Day 3…this sucks #FuckCovid".

Back in June 2020, in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, Portnoy blasted people who refused to wear a mask in public spaces to protect others from possible infection. At the time, he took to his Twitter to share a video of a woman apparently throwing items from her shopping cart after being told by a store manager to keep her mask on.

"What the hell is wrong with some people??" Portnoy wrote. "All because she's supposed to wear a mask in a store to protect other people...how much more childish, irresponsible and selfish can people be?? Are they throwing fits because they have to wear a seatbelt in the car too??? #growup"

Portnoy added in follow-up tweets: "This isn't about YOU, it's about OTHERS!! How can people like you be so selfish?? It is so YOU don't spread YOUR potentially infected germs onto other people who may be vulnerable and at risk!!! How isn't that soooo blatantly obvious?? And this isn't about 'sides' or politics!

"There are certain matters that 'Freedom of Choice' doesn't apply!! Are you allowed to drive without a seatbelt?? Better yet, are you 'allowed' to drive drunk??? It's a matter of public safety & being considerate so as to not harm or kill yourself or others! Stop being so selfish"

Last September, during an interview with TWISTED SISTER bassist Mark "The Animal" Mendoza's Internet show "22 Now", Portnoy spoke about the prospect of going back on the road while the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging. He said: "Honestly, I don't know how I feel about it. I understand the wanting to go out. I had a tour with the NEAL MORSE BAND that was scheduled to begin next month. We ended up having to pull the plug and push it into next year, just because we're seeing all of these other tours coming down and people getting COVID out there, even if they're vaccinated. One guy gets it, and then the show comes down. You watch KISS just firing up their tour, two or three shows in, and then Paul [Stanley] gets it and they have to sit in a hotel for a week. And then they're just getting ready to go again, then Gene [Simmons] gets it. Just the idea of having to quarantine in a hotel for a week or two, putting everybody, the crew and the gear and the trucks and everything on hold and the venues, it's scary. And I understand the hesitation to go back out. 'Cause with the NEAL MORSE BAND, we just made that call. We had to look at the situation and say, 'Look, we really wanna play. We're dying to get out there. But is it worth the risk, both in terms of health and in terms of financial?', to be honest, as well… You've gotta put everybody in hotels for a week, you've gotta [pay for] the crew and the trucks and the gear… And you're losing the show guarantees; you're losing all that income…

"I know we wanna play, but we've gotta be safe too," he explained. "It's a tough call to make… It hurt for us to cancel this MORSE BAND tour, but we said to each other, 'Look, first of all, if we have to cancel some shows and sit in hotel rooms, are we willing to be personally liable for that financially?' And everyone was, like, 'Well, no. Not really.' Nobody wants to be stuck holding the bag. So we said if there was any single bandmember that is uncomfortable being out there and going to do it; we're not gonna make anybody do something they're not comfortable doing. So unless it was unanimous, we said if any one person is not ready to go back out there and take those risks, let's just wait."