Just as the COVID-19 Coronavirus was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson, also an accomplished actor and musician, announced that they have tested positive for the virus.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are both 63 years old, which puts them at a much higher risk of having serious complications from the illness.
According to a statement published by a spokesperson for the Hanks family, the couple caught the virus in Australia where Hanks was in the middle of filming for Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Elvis Presley biopic in which Hanks is playing Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
The statement from Hanks reads:
“Hello, folks. Rita and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive.
Well, now. What to do next? The Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks’ will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no?
We’ll keep the world posted and updated.”
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has banned all travel from Europe, aside from the United Kingdom. There was not any specific mention in Trump’s Wednesday night press conference about whether or not Australia, where Hanks and Wilson are currently in isolation, will also be affected by the travel ban.
Also on Wednesday night, the NBA announced that the remainder of its season would be suspended following the conclusion of tonight’s games.
According to the numbers being published by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins, there are currently 128 confirmed cases in Australia, but the actual number is likely far higher because testing has not become widespread in the country as it has in other places like South Korea.
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