Back in March, Hollywood star Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were two of the first celebrities to reveal that they had tested positive for COVID-19.
Now, Hanks is opening up about the “very different reactions” he and his wife had to coronavirus.
“Our discomfort because of the virus was pretty much done in two weeks and we had very different reactions, and that was odd,” Hanks told The Guardian.
“My wife lost her sense of taste and smell, she had severe nausea, she had a much higher fever than I did. I just had crippling body aches, I was very fatigued all the time and I couldn’t concentrate on anything for more than about 12 minutes.”
That last bit is kinda like my natural state anyway,” Hanks added, going on to say that he managed to stay “pretty calm” about the situation.
Hanks, who was in Australia with his wife filming a movie when they tested positive, said that while he was initially worried about the temperature, their lack of rising body temperatures made him think they would make it through the virus alright.
“When we were in the hospital, I said: ‘I’m 63, I have type 2 diabetes, I had a stent in my heart — am I a red flag case?’ But as long as our temperatures did not spike, and our lungs did not fill up with something that looked like pneumonia, they were not worried,” he recalled. “I’m not one who wakes up in the morning wondering if I’m going to see the end of the day or not. I’m pretty calm about that.”
Hanks also had some choice words for people who are still reluctant to wear face masks.
“There’s really only three things everyone needs to do: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands,” Hanks said.
“I know societally it’s been politicized, but I don’t get it, man. I don’t understand how anyone can put their foot down and say: ‘I don’t have to do my part.'”
Fox News reported that Hanks had previously described himself and his wife as the “canaries in the coal mine for the COVID-19 experience,” given the fact that they were two of the first famous people to publicly test positive for it.
“We had about 10 days of very uncomfortable symptoms. Not life-threatening, we’re happy to say,” Hanks said.
“We were isolated in order to keep an eye on ourselves because if our temperatures had spiked, if our lungs had filled, if any number of things had gone wrong with this, we would have needed expert medical care. We didn’t.”
“I guess we were model recoverers from COVID-19, but we were also isolated so that we would not give it to anybody else that we came in contact with and since then have been doing the same — isolating, social distancing that is being asked of the world so, we are fine,” the star added.
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.