Phil Valentine, Conservative Radio Host Hospitalized With COVID, 'Thinks He's Getting Better'
Phil Valentine, a Tennessee conservative talk radio host hospitalized by COVID, "thinks he's getting better," according to his wife. Last week, his brother said the presenter was "fighting for his life."
The Supertalk 99.7 WTN host revealed he had COVID on social media on July 12. Phil Valentine had expressed skepticism about COVID vaccines in the past but planned to "vigorously" advocate for them since being hospitalized, according to his family.
His wife, identified only as Susan, said in a statement shared by Nashville-based Supertalk 99.7 WTN: "Phil is sitting up and is watching shows on his computer, he says that he thinks he's getting better...the doctors have not told us that and he is still on a ton of oxygen, but I thought think that that's an encouraging sign."
On Saturday, Susan said that her husband was "about the same (which is better than worse—I think)." She said he was on a bipap machine at night, which is used to aid breathing. In the day, he was on a high-flow oxygen mask, which kept his oxygen levels in the mid-nineties. An oxygen saturation level of between 95 to 100 percent is normal for healthy children and adults.
"When not sleeping he is alert and communicative," she said.
Susan's tone was more desperate in a statement to the station on Friday, when she said: "They say he is still not getting well.. please pray for me. I am at a breaking point."
Phil Valentine has in the past expressed doubts about COVID vaccines, including in his last Facebook post on July 16 when he questioned their safety without evidence.
According to The New York Times COVID vaccine tracker, Tennessee is among the U.S. states with the lowest vaccination rates, with 39 percent of adults fully vaccinated, compared with a U.S. total of 49 percent.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states on its website: "COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. COVID-19 vaccines were evaluated in tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials. The vaccines met the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization (EUA)."
His brother, Mark Valentine, appeared on Supertalk 99.7 WTN last week and told listeners: "I think Phil is first of all very regretful that he wasn't a more vocal advocate of the vaccination.
"If he could do it over again he would without hesitation and for those listening I know that if he were able to tell you this he would tell you 'go get vaccinated, quit worrying about the politics, quit worrying about the conspiracy theories and go get the dad gummed vaccination. And don't find yourself in the situation in which he finds himself. That would be his message to you."
