No matter what’s happening around our world, people tend to look to celebrities and influencers for their opinions or reactions. Often, what they post makes the rest of us feel as if they are invincible to the realities of everyday people. However, with the coronavirus pandemic affecting every part of the world and every citizen, it is showing us that no one is 100% invincible.
Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were the first well-known celebrities to be diagnosed with COVID-19, leading almost everybody to take the virus at least a bit more seriously than before. Tom Hanks was in Australia working on his next project, rumored to be an Elvis Presley movie, when he and his wife began feeling ill. He took to Twitter to explain.
One week later, Hanks went to Instagram and gave an update to his followers.
“Good News: One week after testing Positive, in self-isolation, the symptoms are much the same. No fever but the blahs. Folding the laundry and doing the dishes leads to a nap on the couch. Bad news: My wife @ritawilson has won 6 straight hands of Gin Rummy and leads by 201 points. But I have learned not to spread my Vegemite so thick. I traveled here with a typewriter, one I used to love. We are all in this together. Flatten the curve. Hanx”
Today, both Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are fully recovered, returned home and participating in social distancing.
Movie star Idris Elba also tested positive for COVID-19 after taking a precautionary test even though he did not have any symptoms. Because of this, Elba has been very active on social media (specifically Twitter) to try and get more people to join in on social distancing as well as to wash their hands to stop the virus.
Both Elba and his wife, Sabrina Dhowre continued to be asymptomatic throughout their entire quarantine time-frame. The only problem that the two have been facing is trying to get back home to London after quarantine since the airlines have been messed up.
Todd Chrisley, star of the television show “Chrisley Knows Best,” was diagnosed with the Coronavirus as well. His daughter, Savannah Chrisley, took to Instagram and shared the diagnosis and what she thinks of the stereotypical COVID precautions as a celebrity.
Later, Todd Chrisley did address his diagnosis on his podcast “Chrisley Confessions.” He shared more information about how he has been feeling by saying, “I have been battling corona for three weeks. I was in the hospital for four and a half days, fever between 100 to 103 and it has been the sickest I have ever been on this earth. Hopefully, I will get better every day, but as of right now, folks, I still am not clicking on all cylinders. I am probably about 70 to 75% of what I normally I am, but that last 25% is kicking my ass.” As of right now, Todd Chrisley is not recovered.
NBA Championship winner Kevin Durant and three other Brooklyn Nets players were also confirmed to have caught coronavirus. In an interview with The Athletic, he told everybody to stay safe and to take care of themselves during this time and that “we’re going to get through this.” On March 17, there was a press release sent out by the Brooklyn Nets regarding their sick players.
Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Idris Elba, Todd Chrisley, and Kevin Durant are just a few of the many celebrities who have caught COVID-19. Others include P!nk, Andy Cohen, Sean Payton, and even Prince Charles. All of these celebrities either still have the virus or have recovered; however, there have been some that have not recovered and sadly passed. A few of these celebrities include Manu Dibango (saxophone player who was sampled on Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’), Floyd Cardoz (winner of “Top Chef Masters”) and Andrew Jack (played Major Ematt in Star Wars and is the go-to dialect and accent coach for actors).
All of these celebrities and influencers who have been or are infected by COVID-19 are sharing their stories on social media to hopefully help everybody realize the seriousness of the virus. This will likely influence more people (both celebrities and everyday citizens) to stay inside and wash their hands, therefore bringing everybody back to the lives we had before this pandemic.