Eurovision: Australia Decides contestant Jaguar Jonze shares her life in COVID-19 ‘virtual hospital’

Rising indie pop artist Jaguar Jonze has opened up about her COVID-19 battle as she revealed what it’s like to be a patient in a “virtual hospital”.

Indie pop artist and Eurovision aspirant Jaguar Jonze has shared her experiences of being in a “virtual hospital” after contracting COVID-19 on her way home from America.

Jonze, who competed at the annual Australia Decides contest in February, had been due to perform at the annual SXSW festival in Texas last month and had other concerts lined up in the US to attract label interest there.

But she was forced to abort her plans when she and her team had to make the dash home to Australia before borders closed.

Jaguar Jonze was forced to cancel her tour while in the US because of the virus. Picture Glenn Hampson

The Brisbane singer and songwriter tested positive on March 24, despite taking all recommended precautions including frequent hand washing and wearing a face mask on the 15-hour flight home.

“Tracking it back, they think I would’ve caught it on my journey back home from the US. The ironic thing is I booked an early flight back … to be safe and at home in Australia,” she posted on Instagram.

After many of her young fans asked for details about her symptoms, the Rabbit Hole singer shared she had suffered fever, aches, chills, sore throat, chesty cough, diarrhoea, headaches, mild chest pains and “hectic fatigue”.

The colourful artists described her symptoms to her fans on Instagram. Picture: Supplied.

“I am a virtual hospital patient (which has been such a great initiative), which means I check in with a nurse over video conference twice a day and leave beds for those who are in a more dire situation,” she posted at Day 10 of her quarantine.

“I am wearing a temperature tracker around the clock and also have a wireless vital signs reader which feeds data to the hospital.

“There are alerts set up for close monitoring. Really cool technology that I haven’t come across before.

“I keep this up until I have no COVID-19 symptoms for at least three days, then I can be discharged.”

Jonze’s Australia Decides entry song Rabbit Hole was about suffering PTSD. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Gosling.

Despite having all her tour plans cancelled until at least August, Jonze told fans she would proceed with the release of her debut EP Diamonds & Liquid Gold on April 17.

The independent artist has also set up a Patreon account in an attempt to “survive” financially.

“It’s been a really hard few weeks in everything Jaguar Jonze world – having the USA tour crumble as we were over there, having my income and other tours/plans be cancelled up until August for now, and then of course, contracting COVID-19 myself and trying to recover the last few weeks,” she posted.

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“Even in these times of uncertainty, we all still need music, and I know especially in hardship I need to be creative, so I’ve decided to go ahead and release my debut EP.”

Diamonds & Liquid Gold will be available from April 17 via streaming services and Jaguar Jonze’s Patreon.

Originally published as Eurovision: Australia Decides contestant Jaguar Jonze shares her life in COVID-19 ‘virtual hospital’