Tool / A Perfect Circle / Puscifer frontman Maynard James Keenan has revealed in a new interview that he recently contracted COVID-19. Though he beat the disease, the singer is still “dealing with the residual side effects,” including lung damage.

Johns Hopkins currently lists the mortality rate of COVID-19 in the United States at 2.8 percent, though the number could be lower considering not everyone infected has been tested. The highest observed COVID mortality rate is in Mexico — 10.3 percent — while the highest per-capita death rate has occurred in Peru, with 103.19 people dying from COVID-19 per 100,000 of the total population. The United States currently has the sixth-highest per-capita death rate in the world.

Keenan got COVID-19 in late February, before the pandemic was officially declared. “I kind of didn't want to run around screaming it. But it's real. And there's after-effects,” Keenan shared with AZ Central. “I had to go through some major medications to undo the residual effects. Still coughing. There's still lung damage.”

When asked if he’s currently feeling alright, Keenan answered, “Well no. I still have the cough. Every other day, I have these coughing fits because my lungs are still damaged at the tips. And I just got over the inflammation that was going on with my wrist and hands. I had an autoimmune attack on my system in the form of, like, a rheumatoid arthritis. Basically, from what I understand, it attacks weird spots and it's random. So that's what I got. That was my prize.”

As for the subject of wearing a mask to prevent the spread of COVID, Maynard finds the political polarization of the virus “ridiculous.” “It's just an absurdity. We wear seatbelts. We don't smoke in trains, planes or taxis anymore, or even restaurants. There's reasons for those things. I don't know. I feel like there's this twist on the idea of personal freedom where somehow freedom is you being able to walk into anybody's house and take a dump on their meal or shout ugly things at their grandma. That's not what freedom is.”

“Freedom is the ability to pursue your lifestyle, pursue what you want to do for your family, for your future, what education you want to get. And with that freedom comes a responsibility to look out for yourself, for your neighbor, for your family, for everybody. So there are some compromises that come along with freedom. I'm not sure why that's so difficult to grasp.”

Puscifer will release their newest album, Existential Reckoning, on Oct. 30. Click here to pre-order the album. (As Amazon affiliates, we earn on qualifying purchases)

See Tool in the 66 Best Metal Songs of the 21st Century

More From KZCD-FM