With news coming fast and furious about medical personnel, politicians, sports personalities, people in showbiz and others falling ill from Covid-19, it is clear that everybody is at risk and must take precautions against it, like washing hands with soap frequently and staying away from crowds.
On Wednesday (March 11), there was news that actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, had tested positive for Covid-19 while in Australia.
Among sports personalities in the United States, Utah Jazz basketball player Rudy Gobert reportedly tested positive for the illness on Wednesday (March 11). Although the National Basketball Association (NBA) did not identify him by name, it did say that a player on the Utah Jazz had tested positive for Covid-19.
This occurred only days after Gobert was videoed joking with reporters about the virus, touching every microphone with his hands before heading out the door.
Due to his positive result, the entire NBA season has been postponed until further notice, leaving sports fans stunned and highly disappointed.Many, however, agree that this is the best decision at the moment.
Ironically, another high-profile person to have tested positive for the disease is the Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health in the United Kingdom, Ms Nadine Dorries.
She does not know exactly where she contracted the virus but, unfortunately, she had been in contact with others before finding out that she had the disease.
After finding out about her diagnosis, she sent out a tweet thanking everyone for their “good wishes” but also expressing worry about her 84-year old mum who lives with her. The mother will be tested for the virus just in case.
Back in the US, a fan tweeted about the TV show Riverdale, saying that a “team member is currently receiving medical evaluation” because the person’s test result came back positive for the virus. Warner Bros has suspended production of the show, which is currently in its fourth season. No one knows when production will resume.
Halfway across the world, Vietnamese socialite Nga Nguyen and her sister Nguyen Hong Nhung, have both been confirmed positive for Covid-19. They had been to a number of fashion shows in Milan, Italy. There has been a surge of cases that country and it is under lockdown.
The sisters, who had been feeling fine, were confirmed with the disease days later. At least seven Britons who were on the same London-Hanoi flight have tested positive for Covid-19. Since then, the sisters have received hate mail and threats for infecting other people.
While Nga Nguyen has gone on to explain her side of the story, she adds: “I completely understand the extreme sentiment, given the world is in hysteria over this epidemic.” Since finding out about her state of health, she has been under quarantine and will be retested on Monday (March 16).
As Covid-19 makes its way all around the world, people have no choice but wait until it finally reaches its peak and begins to go away. With people everywhere being confirmed positive, whether they are sports stars, politicians, showbiz personalities and even medical personnel, it just makes it that much more real for those thinking that they are safe from it.
It may only be a matter of time before other notable personalities come back positive as well. So until this pandemic is over, anyone down with the virus should heed the advice given by Tom Hanks: That is, to take it one day at a time. /TISG