Tom Hanks Confirms He & Rita Wilson Have Tested Positive For Coronavirus & Will Be ‘Isolated’
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Tom Hanks personally delivered the shocking news: the actor and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, tested ‘positive’ for the new coronavirus. The couple was in Australia when they contracted the virus that has killed 4,000 people!
UPDATE (3/27/20, 9:40 P.M. ET): Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are done quarantining in Australia! The couple was pictured with big smiles while driving their Range Rover in Los Angeles on March 27. They had just landed at Van Nuys Airport, according to TMZ, which obtained photos of their arrival.
UPDATE (3/23/20, 7:30 a.m. ET): Tom Hanks gave an update on March 22 on how he and Rita Wilson are doing after their coronavirus diagnosis. “Hey, folks. Two weeks after our first symptoms and we feel better,” he tweeted. “Sheltering in place works like this: You don’t give it to anyone -You don’t get it from anyone. Common sense, no? Going to take awhile, but if we take care of each other, help where we can, and give up some comforts…this, too, shall pass. We can figure this out. Hanx”
UPDATE (3/17/20, 7:00 p.m. ET): Tom Hanks shared “good news” a week after he and Rita Wilson tested positive for the new coronavirus! On March 17, he took to Twitter and announced, “Hey folks. Good News: One week after testing Positive, in self-isolation, the symptoms are much the same. No fever but the blahs. Folding the laundry and doing the dishes lead to a nap on the couch. Bad news: My wife has won 6 straight hands of Gin Rummy and leads by 201 points. But I have learned not to spread my Vegemite so thick. I travelled here with a typewriter, one I used to love. We are all in this together. Flatten the curve. Hanx.”
UPDATE (3/16/20, 1:25 p.m. ET): Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have left the hospital in Australia five days after revealing they had both tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), People confirmed on March 16. The actor and actress are now resting at a rented home in the country. The news comes one day after Tom shared an update on Sunday, March 15, letting fans know he was eating. ” Thanks to the Helpers. Let’s take care of ourselves and each other,” he captioned a photo of a plate of food and a glass of water. He signed the update, “Hanx.”
UPDATE (3/11/20, 10:25 p.m. ET): Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s eldest son, Chet Hanks, 29, broke his silence shortly after his parents’ COVID-19 diagnosis was revealed. “Yeah, it’s true. My parents got coronavirus. Crazy. They’re both down in Australia right now because my dad was shooting a movie down there, but I just got off the phone with them. They both are fine. They’re not even that sick. They’re not worried about it. They’re not tripping but they’re going through the necessary health precautions, obviously. But I don’t think it’s anything to be too worried about. I appreciate everyone’s concern and the well wishes, but I think it’s all going to be all right,” Chet told his Instagram followers in a video shared on March 11. You can watch the clip below!
UPDATE (3/11/20, 10:25 p.m. ET): After Tom Hanks tested positive for the new coronavirus strain, production on the Elvis Presley biopic he was filming has came to a halt! “We have been made aware that a company member from our Elvis feature film, which is currently in pre-production in The Gold Coast, Australia, has tested positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus),” a spokesperson from Warner Bros. announced in a statement to our sister website, Indiewire. “We are working closely with the appropriate Australian health agencies to identify and contact anyone who may have come in direct contact with the individual. The health and safety of our company members is always our top priority, and we are taking precautions to protect everyone who works on our productions around the world. The individual who tested positive for COVID-19 is currently receiving treatment.”
ORIGINAL: One of the most famous people in Hollywood has contracted the new coronavirus: Tom Hanks. And he wasn’t alone — his wife, actress Rita Wilson, 63, also tested positive for the terrifying virus that causes the COVID-19 disease, which has taken away 4,000 lives worldwide! Tom, 63, broke the news in an Instagram post on March 11, which showed a photo of a trashcan covered in a Biohazard trash liner containing a latex glove. “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,” Tom revealed to his stunned followers.
What does this unsettling news mean for the married couple? Answering that question, Tom continued, “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?” In his signature charming style, Tom ended the message on a cheerful note: “We’ll keep the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves! Hanx!”
Tom and Rita contracted the virus in Australia, where Tom was doing pre-production for the Elvis Presley biopic that’s being directed by Baz Luhrmann, our sister website Deadline reported. Austin Butler, Vanessa Hudgen’s ex-boyfriend, will be playing Elvis alongside Tom in the 2021 film — there has been no word on his well-being at the moment. HollywoodLife has reached out to Austin’s rep for comment.
Celebrities from Wilmer Valderrama to Nick Viall rushed to Tom’s comments section to offer their support, by way of prayer hand emojis. Just four days before revealing his diagnosis, all seemed normal when Tom shared a photo of his trip to Bondi Beach in New South Wales (located on the east coast of Australia). Rita even performed at a sold-out concert in Brisbane’s Emporium Hotel on March 5, which Tom and their 24-year-old son Truman attended, according to The Courier Mail. While in the US, Rita also sat in the VIP section of the Feb. 29 show of Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus tour at The Forum. HollywoodLife has reached out to Oprah’s rep for comment as well.
Tom’s blindsiding announcement came just minutes after President Donald Trump, 73, made one himself: a 30-day travel ban from Europe to the United States will be enforced, starting on March 13! The United Kingdom will be exempt from this ban. There are now 113,000 reported cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with 120 of them located in Australia, where Tom and Rita are currently located.