Tom Hanks, Wife Test Positive for Coronavirus

Couple were diagnosed in Australia
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 12, 2020 1:10 AM CDT
Tom Hanks, Wife Test Positive for Coronavirus
In this Feb. 9, 2020 photo, Tom Hanks, left, and Rita Wilson arrive at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

Tom Hanks is now the world's most famous coronavirus patient. The actor and wife Rita Wilson have been diagnosed with the virus in Queensland, Australia, where he was set to start filming a Baz Luhrmann movie about Elvis Presley on Monday, Deadline reports. "We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too," Hanks said on Instagram. "To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive." We "will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires," Hanks said, adding: "Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no?" Hanks, who will play Elvis manager Colonel Tom Parker in the movie, and Wilson are both 63 years old.

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said anybody who was in close contact with Hanks and Wilson should put themselves in self-quarantine, though she added that fans who posed for selfies are probably safe, the Guardian reports. Other celebrities offered the couple support after the news broke, reports the New York Times. "Ok, now we all have someone we love diagnosed with #coronavirus," tweeted Ann Curry. Chet Hanks, the couple's son, said they were not too worried, People reports. "I just got off the phone with them. They both are fine," he said on Instagram. "They’re not even that sick. They’re not worried about it. They’re not trippin’ but they’re going through the necessary health precautions obviously." (More coronavirus stories.)

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