Australian musician Missy Higgins has spoken out after it was revealed her father, Dr Chris Higgins, had contracted coronavirus on a recent trip to the US.
In a post shared on her Instagram account on Thursday evening, the singer said “our little family is completely healthy and fine”, while her dad, a doctor at The Toorak Clinic in Melbourne, “has received such an outpouring of support”.
“Hey everyone. Woah crazy, crazy times. Given the amount of misinformation out there at the moment, I just wanted to let you all know that our little family is completely healthy and fine,” wrote Missy.
“We’ve been told none of us are at risk of having caught it but we’re laying low anyway just because people seem to be freaking out around us none-the-less!
There is a lot of fear around,” she continued, adding it’s been tough given the media coverage around her father’s diagnosis.
“But my dad has received such an outpouring of support and love from the public, especially from the medical community, so our main emotion right now is gratitude and relief.”
The ARIA award-winning musician said she will be staying off social media for a while.
Last week it was reported that Dr Chris Higgins had treated 70 patients at The Toorak Clinic in Melbourne while suffering what he thought was just a cold.
The doctor in his 70s had returned from the USA on February 29, and after feeling his mild cold had ended after two days, he returned to work.
He and his staff as well as patients at the practice have since been required to self-isolate.
Dr Higgins eventually spoke up online, responding to criticism from Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos, who said she was “flabbergasted” that the GP would continue to see patients while having flu-like symptoms.
“I hesitated to do a swab because I did not fulfil your criteria for testing but did one anyway on Thursday evening for sake of completeness, not imagining for one moment it would turn out to be positive,” he wrote.
“I believe you have taken a cheap opportunity for political grandstanding and would appreciate an apology.”