Actor Idris Elba is the latest high-profile individual to test positive for the Coronavirus after Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Olga Kurylenko, and Kristofer Hivju. The Hobbs and Shaw and Thor: Ragnarok star made the announcement on Twitter, detailing his close contact with an individual who had the virus. Here’s Elba’s full statement:
It came back positive, yeah, and it sucks. Listen, I’m doing okay. [Sabrina Dhowre, Idris Elba’s wife] hasn’t been tested and she’s doing okay. I didn’t have any symptoms. I got tested because I realized I was exposed to someone who had also tested positive. I found out last Friday that they were tested positive. I quarantined myself and got a test immediately. Got the results back today.
Look, this is serious. Now is the time to really think about social distancing, washing your hands. Beyond that, there are people out there who aren’t showing symptoms and that could easily spread it. Now is the time to be really vigilant about washing your hands and keeping your distance. We’ve told our families. They’re very supportive. Told our colleagues. Transparency is probably the best thing for this right now. If you’re feeling ill, if you feel like you should be tested or you’ve been exposed, do something about it. Look, we live in a divided world right now. We can all feel it. It’s been bull***. But now is the time for solidarity, now is the time for thinking about each other. So many people whose lives have been affected, from those who have lost people that they love to people who don’t even have it who have lost their livelihoods. This is real, alright?
Oh yeah. Real, this is.
The COVID-19 outbreak has been indiscriminate, affecting people from all walks of life. As the global economy continues to decline, Hollywood itself has suffered within this past month with box-office turnouts at an all-time low. Studios have been exercising caution in these dire times, turning down the heat on their productions, cancelling promotional events, and postponing releases. But that’s just in terms of the industry.
Nonetheless, Elba’s message is something that we should all take to heart, not because he’s a famous person, but due to the fact that this could happen to anyone at any time, especially with the recent spike in COVID-19 cases right here in our nation. Care for one another, we must. Keeping clean, practising social distancing, and being transparent about our health is paramount for our society’s safety. While we might not be so susceptible to the dangers of the pandemic, others around us, our loved ones, could very well be affected.
Stay safe, stay vigilant, and we’ll be punching our way out of this situation!
