English television personality, Piers Morgan, best known for his heated discussions and rants on ITV's ‘Good Morning Britain,’ is being lambasted by his own viewers for getting a coronavirus test within 48 hours of revealing that he has started to feel ‘mild’ symptoms of the deadly virus. This virus has taken the lives of more than 30,000 people in the UK, NPR reported. Morgan told his followers that he decided to get tested over the course of this weekend since his doctor strongly recommended him to do so.
The veteran anchor got back his test results on May 4 and tested negative for coronavirus. However, it's still unclear whether he was tested by the National Health Service or he opted to get tested in a private lab.
As soon as Morgan received his test results, he updated his fans on Twitter, Standard UK reported. He tweeted that he has tested negative for the virus and that he got tested because he was showing mild symptoms that are commonly associated with the coronavirus. He further wrote in his tweet that he was entitled to get tested as he is an essential worker. However, it seems like his recent tweet wasn't well-received by numerous people.
Shortly after he had sent out that tweet, people started trolling him because they believe that he used his elite celebrity status to gain access to an instant coronavirus test. Some even said that he shouldn't be considered as an essential worker.
One Twitter user commented that the United Kingdom government should reconsider its decision to give journalists the status of essential workers. The same user also told the former CNN host that her daughter, who is currently working as a nurse with the NHS, is an actual key worker. Morgan immediately responded to the user, who believes that reporters are not important amid the deadly pandemic.
Morgan said that he acknowledges the fact that her daughter is more of an essential worker than him and that he wasn't trying to undermine the role of other key workers such as doctors, nurses, etc. He ended his tweet by saying that the media industry plays a significant role in informing people amidst times like these, which is why media persons are considered essential.
Unfortunately, Piers Morgan's reply wasn't able to successfully convince people that he is any different from the other rich elites. A second user wrote that it is very amusing to see Morgan justifying his stance on getting tested for the virus because he recently bashed the royal family for getting tested ahead of the healthcare workers.
Not only the ordinary people, even Lord Sugar, an affluent UK-based businessman, took a shot at the television host and said that people like Morgan shouldn't be able to get tested faster than the NHS employees. Sugar tweeted that there are several other impressive presenters at ‘Good Morning Britain’ that can easily step in for him. The business magnate further added that Morgan is an absolute hypocrite because if any of his enemies had done what he did, he would have been screaming at them at the top of his lungs.
Piers Morgan criticizing the royal family regarding coronavirus testing
In March of 2020, the 55-year-old television journalist had heavily criticized the British royal family as well as the UK government's healthcare authorities for allowing the monarchy to get access to instant coronavirus testing.
Meanwhile, the NHS workers have to wait for a long time to get tested. Morgan's criticism of the authorities increased significantly after it was reported that Prince Charles had been diagnosed with the COVID-19 coronavirus. At the time, he tweeted that he totally understands that it is truly necessary for Prince Charles and Princess Camilla to get tested for the virus, considering that Charles is the heir to the royal throne. However, he doesn't understand why the royal family should get tested faster than frontline healthcare workers.