One of Toronto’s hundreds of recent COVID-19 cases is none other than beloved Canadian drag queen Brooke Lynn Hytes.
Brooke Lynn, the runner-up on Season 11 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and one of the judges on “Canada’s Drag Race,” made the announcement on Instagram on Tuesday. She got tested because she had been in contact with people in Toronto who had contracted the virus, she said, and her test came back positive.
“Symptoms are very mild and for that I am grateful,” she wrote. “I am all tucked away in my quarantine and I’m doing just fine.”
Brooke Lynn — real name Brock Hayhoe — said she was disappointed that getting sick meant she would miss some of the “Canada’s Drag Race” drive-in tour. She was billed as the event’s host for shows in Montreal on Wednesday and Thursday, and in Toronto over the weekend. The tour previously stopped in Calgary.
She should still be able to make tour stops in Ottawa next week, she said, “health permitting.”
She added a plea for people to take the virus seriously. “This can happen to ANYBODY at any time,” she wrote. “I followed the rules, and it still got me. Wash your hands, wear a mask, be kind and VOTE!”
Brooke Lynn, who’s from Toronto but spent years living in Nashville, has been vocal on social media about her disdain for U.S. President Donald Trump.
She also posted about Wednesday being Orange Shirt Day, which honours the survivors of residential schools.
Some people with COVID report a sensitivity to light that makes it hard to look at screens, so we’ll take the fact that she’s able to tweet about Trump and Orange Shirt Day as a good sign.