Actor Tom Hanks announced on Instagram that he and his wife are in Australia and they were diagnosed with coronavirus.
On his account, he wrote:
“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?”
The couple was doing pre-production work on a project about Elvis Presley, Warner Bros. confirmed. The company added that they are in close communication with Australian health agencies to identify every individual the Hanks’ made contact with. Individuals who had prolonged contact with the couple will be quarantined. There were unconfirmed reports that one person on the set had tested positive.
It is still unknown whether the couple had contracted the virus in Australia or already had it from the United States.
Australia has 128 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The low number of cases is all thanks to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s emergency coronavirus plan which was set in motion as early as 28 February.
Two weeks ago, Morrison said, “We believe the risk of global pandemic is very much upon us. And, as a result, as a government, we need to take the steps necessary to prepare for such a pandemic.”
Australia is still recovering from the country’s bush-fire crisis.
Days after China shared the genome of the virus, Australia’s private testing industry was mobilized, offering free tests through Medicare, the national health care plan.
