Radio host Howard Stern reportedly left home on Saturday for the first time in two years, citing fears of COVID-19.
Stern, who is notoriously germophobic, joined many celebrities, including best friends Jimmy Kimmel, Jennifer Aniston, Jon Hamm, Justin Theroux, and Jason Bateman, for dinner at Laser Wolf in Williamsburg, New York. Although he claims he still wants to continue with his COVID cautious lifestyle, Page Six reported.
“It’s been a really exhausting weekend, both emotionally and physically,” Stern reported on Monday’s radio show. “I left home for the first time in two years.”
Germphobia and Covid Concerns @Howard Stern Leaving ‘Apocalypse Bunker’ to dine with mates for the first time since 2020 via https://t.co/D9m6RlWMY2 @pagesix
— Page Six Emily (@PageSixEmily) October 3, 2022
“It was too much for me. It was too much. I haven’t been out in two years,” Stern continued. …I know the President told us the pandemic is over and everyone is walking around without a mask …I just don’t want to catch COVID just yet .”
“Howard wasn’t even wearing a mask,” one diner told the outlet. Stern told restaurant staff it was his first night out since the pandemic began.
“For me, [COVID] is still going on and I haven’t left home. I don’t know how to integrate myself. “I’ve been trapped for so long and I haven’t had COVID. I think I’m the only one to die from COVID. It doesn’t look dead, but [anymore]”
Aside from the occasional walk, Stern and wife Beth Ostroski have both been vaccinated and have remained in his ‘bunker’ in Southampton since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Stern hosts a radio show from his home studio, calling it “Apocalypse Broadcast.”
In January, Stern reportedly said unvaccinated people should be kept away from hospitals, Timcast reported.
“If it were up to me, no one who hadn’t been vaccinated would be in a hospital,” Stern said in response to a caller about a pandemic affecting unvaccinated people. Stern continued to criticize those who questioned the government’s vaccination push, saying, “I’ve had three doses of this vaccine and the worst side effect was one day. I just had a little headache.” ‘ said.
Mr Stern continued:
No one is plotting against you. Americans don’t want to create vaccines that turn people into robots or magnets. Enough Americans are taking it now. See us as a sample of what happened to us. It’s time you got it. … If you don’t understand, all the hospitals in my country will be closed. you’re gonna go home and die